Bacolod City (CNN Philippines) — At least four persons died on the spot while 46 others were injured in a collision between two Ceres buses at the national highway of Barangay Santo Niño in EB Magalona town, Negros Occidental, Wednesday morning (July 22).
Two of the fatalities were identified as Ronnie Javarro, 25, fare collector of the bus bound for Bacolod, and Nemia Paceno, 19, a pharmacy student, while the two others are yet to be identified since their faces were deformed, Senior Insp. Conrado Rances III, EB Magalona Police Station chief, said.
Rances corrected the figure from six fatalities to four, saying that two of them have showed signs of life and were rushed to the hospital.
Those injured were brought to the Teresita Lopez Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City, and Our Lady of Mercy Specialty Hospital and The Doctor’s Hospital in Bacolod City.
Traffic investigation showed that the Ceres Liner bus bound for Escalante, driven by Leo Siocon, tried to overtake the vehicle in front of it using the right outer lane but failed, hitting the metal barrier, before it fell on its side and hit the bus bound to Bacolod, driven by Reynald Sibugan.
Both the passenger buses fell on its right side, overthrowing some of the passengers into the canal, Rances said.
Siocon and his fare collector Shabiros Cuervo, are now detained at the EB Magalona Police Station, Rances said, adding that they may face charges for reckless imprudence resulting to multiple homicide and multiple physical injuries.
Several vehicular accidents have taken place at the national highway in Barangay Santo Niño and the nearby Barangay San Jose in EB Magalona. Residents call it “mariit (a place of dangerous enchantment)” and “killer highway”.
The police, however, eyed human error like overspeeding and executing unsafe overtaking as the usual cause of accidents in the area.
