Nineteen people were killed and 21 others injured when a passenger bus plunged off a cliff in the Philippines after the driver lost control of the vehicle, police said yesterday.
The accident occurred late Tuesday in the town of Sablayan in Occidental Mindoro province, 200 kilometres south of Manila.
The bus was travelling downhill near a bridge when the driver lost control of the vehicle, according to police spokeswoman Imelda Tolentino, who added that “the vehicle bumped into the right side railing of the bridge and fell down the cliff.”
The driver and 14 passengers died on the spot, while four later succumbed to their injuries in hospital, Tolentino said.
An initial investigation indicated the vehicle’s brakes malfunctioned, causing the driver to lose control of the vehicle, said Lourdes Lizada, a board member of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board.
The accident was the fifth for the bus company since 2011, she said. A total of seven people were killed and 57 injured in the four previous accidents.
The board has suspended the operations of 10 of the company’s other buses for a period of 30 days, during which authorities would inspect the condition of the vehicles and drivers will undergo a road safety seminar, Lizada said.
The accident occurred days before thousands of Filipinos were expected to travel to the provinces for the Lenten break, when schools and offices are closed as early as Holy Wednesday.
This undated handout from the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO)-Occidental Mindoro released yesterday shows people and rescuers searching for survivors after a passenger bus plunged off a cliff in Sablayan town, Occidental Mindoro province, south of Manila.
