7 killed, 40 injured in twin road mishaps

At least seven people, including two students and a retired soldier, were killed, while 40 others were injured in road accidents in Batangas and Agusan del Norte the other day.

Students Jeannette Maranan, 16, and Mark John Castillo, 8, died on the spot after their school bus plunged into a 50-foot deep ravine at about 4:45 p.m. in Barangay San Pablo, Bauan, Batangas.

Eighteen others, all students of the Manalupang-San Vicente Elementary School and the barangay high school in Bauan, were injured in the accident. They were rushed to the Bauan General Hospital.

Police said the driver, Julian Castillo, alighted from the bus to chase his goat, which he saw roaming free on the road, and tied it to a tree.

It was during this time when the bus, parked on the roadside, rolled and fell into the ravine. Castillo is now detained at the Bauan police station.

Meanwhile, in Cabadbaran, Agusan del Norte, at least five people, including a retired soldier, were killed and 22 others were injured when an overspeeding bus smashed into a steel railing and then turned upside down Monday night.

Police identified three of the fatalities as retired 2Lt. Romeo Cubillas, 56; Rosemarie Cebial, 6; Maria Leny Lapasaran, 17.

The two others, both women who had reportedly come from Manila via Tacloban City where the Bachelor Express bus originated, were still unidentified.

Probers said most of those seriously wounded were asleep when they met the accident near a school in Barangay Comagascas.

Senior Inspector John Michael Deloso, Cabadbaran police chief, said the bus driver, Eric Daba, 36, and the conductor, Romeo Mon-taño, were among the injured.

Police said the bus with license plate LVW 376 was en route to Davao City via Butuan City from Surigao City when its driver raced with another Bachelor Express bus also headed toward Davao City.

When it reached a curve down the Comagascas Bridge, the driver lost control and rammed the bus into a steel railing, causing it to turn turtle near the Comagascas Elementary School. — With Ed Amoroso