6 die, 53 hurt in Camarines, Ecija mishaps

Six people, including a regional director of the Department of Environment and Na—tural Resources, were killed and 53 others were injured in three road accidents in Nueva Ecija and in the two Camarines provinces last Thursday.

In Carranglan, Nueva Ecija, a Nelbusco bus, en route to Manila from San Mateo, Isabela, plunged into a 250-meter deep ravine, killing four people, including the driver, and injuring 22 other passengers.

The bus, with license plate BVR 795, was cruising the national highway in Barangay Capintalan at around midnight when it lost its brakes, causing it to fall into the ravine, less than a kilometer away from the boundary of Carranglan and Sta. Fe, Nueva Vizcaya, said Col. Dacy Mariñas, commander of the Army’s 54th Infantry Battalion.

"When I heard the driver shouting that the bus had lost its brakes, I clung to the handrail and held my wife tightly. I knew we were going to die, but thank God we survived this tragedy," said Filmor Visitacion in Tagalog.

Meanwhile, DENR director Joseph Lita, 41, died on the spot when a six-wheeler Isuzu truck slammed into his car in Barangay Planza in San Fernando, Camarines Sur. He was en route to Naga City.

The truck turned turtle and struck a Honda CRV, while Lita’s car swerved and hit a 10-wheeler truck parked on the roadside.

Unable to control the Hon—da CRV, its driver, Alberto Angeles, hit a Raymund bus.

Police said 25 occupants of all the vehicles involved in the accident, including at least six children, sustained injuries.

Hours later, a Honda Civic collided with a tricycle in Daet, Camarines Norte, killing one of the tricycle’s passengers on the spot and injuring six others.