Minibus in deadly Nueva Ecija road crash overloaded —police official

The minibus that fell into a ravine in Nueva Ecija last Tuesday morning, killing 31 people and injuring 46 others,  was overloaded, a police official said Wednesday.

In an interview on "News To Go, " Nueva Ecija Police director Sr. Supt. Antonio Yarra said that the capacity of the bus was at 45, but it had 77 passengers during the incident.

"Batay sa laki ng bus, halatang overloaded ito... may 77 na pasahero at 45 lamang ang  capacity nito," Yarra told News To Go anchor Kara David.

He also clarified that the diver and the conductor were among the 31 confirmed dead in the tragedy.

"As of Wednesday morning ang body count ay 31, at 46 ang nasa Veterans Hospital ng Bayombong Nueva Vizcaya at sa Nueva Vizcaya Provincial Hospital sa Bambang," he said. 

Citing some survivors, Yarra said that the bus was negotiating a downhill, zigzag road and one of its front wheels burst and the brakes failed.

"Posible na hindi na nakayanan ng preno kasi overloaded at pababa at winding ang daan. Nang pumutok ang gulong sa unahan, sumigaw ang drayber na wala na siyang kontrol sa sasakyan ... at tuloy na bumulusok ang bus sa bangin," Yarra quoted some survivors as saying.

Asked if there were road safety signs in the area, Yarra said, "meron pero  hindi sapat."

"May mga barrier sa gilid ng bangin pero intermittent.  Lumusot sa awang ang bus. Putol-putol ang barrier sa area."

In a report on Tuesday, Senior Inspector Robert de Guzman, Carrangalan police officer-in-charge, said the incident happened at past 11 a.m. in Barangay Capintalan.

He said bystanders saw the speeding LeoMaric minibus, bound for Candon, Ilocos Sur, fell into an 80- to 100-foot ravine.

De Guzman said the bus was in total wreck.

In a radio dzBB interview, Michael Calma of the Nueva Ecija Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said that among those who were initially reported killed were 18 female passengers, seven male passengers and a child.

Meanwhile, Yarra said quoting survivors,  that the minibus was not speeding when the accident happened. "It (the bus) was normally traversing the zigzag road nang pumutok ang unahang gulong nito."

Also he said that the road section was accident-prone. 

He said that the owner of the LeoMarick minibus, which has two units, has yet to show up at the police headquarters for further investigation.

On Tuesday, the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) ordered a 30-day preventive suspension on Leomarick Trans' operations due to the deadly incident. —LBG, GMA News