4 killed in bus-jeep collision in Benguet

TUBA, Benguet — Four people, including three barangay chairmen, were killed when a lowland-bound bus full of students from Zambales smashed into a topdown jeep along the Marcos Highway here last Thursday.

Vicente Tomazar, Cordillera chief of the Office of Civil Defense, identified the fatalities as Joseph Sari, Johnson Almeda and Jose Liwan, barangay chairmen of Camps 1 and 4 and Ansagan, all in Tuba town, respectively; and Pepe Pada of Baguio City.

Both Sari and Pada died on the spot. Their companion, Richard Abanse, a Baguio resident, is still in critical condition at the hospital.

The group’s topdown jeep was rammed head-on by the bus which was carrying 39 students of the Ramon Magsaysay Technological University in Zambales at about 4:30 p.m. along the highway in Barangay Taloy Sur, Tuba town.

The students were on a study tour of the Ambuclao Dam in Bokod, Benguet.

Tomazar said the bus lost its brakes while it was negotiating a curve along the Marcos Highway, causing it to smash into the upward-bound jeep.

Last week, eight passengers of a Norton bus bound for Kabayan, Benguet were killed when the driver reportedly lost control of the wheel, sending the vehicle plunging into a 200-foot deep ravine.

Authorities said the Norton bus company had long been ferrying passengers along the Baguio-Nueva Vizcaya route despite the absence of any government permit.