CAMP RAVINA, Aurora, Philippines – Twenty-five passengers, including four youngsters and an elderly couple, sustained injuries after their bus plunged into a ravine in Maria Aurora town this province yesterday morning.
Senior Superintendent Elmer Bantug, provincial police director, said the Papin Bus Liner unit was cruising Sitio Dimutol, Barangay Dianawan in Maria Aurora when its driver, Celestino Marzan, lost control of the steering wheel.
The Cabanatuan City-bound bus then skidded and fell into a 15-feet deep ravine.
The injured passengers were brought to the Aurora Memorial Hospital and Premiere General Hospital.
Before the accident, PO3 Jaquel Sigua, duty investigator of the Maria Aurora police, said passengers heard something had snapped and the driver tried to apply the brakes to no avail and the bus fell off the cliff.
Sigua said the area where the mishap happened is not considered accident-prone. “In fact, it is the first time such an accident happened there,†he said.
Marzan is locked up at the Maria Aurora detention cell.