Death toll in La Union bus accident now 12

The death toll in Saturday afternoon’s bus accident in La Union has now reached 12 after four more victims died in the hospital. Eight people died on the spot when a PJM Love Bus bus from Laguna slammed into an acacia tree along Marcos Highway in Barangay Palina in Pugo town, a local police official said. The bus was carrying 49 passengers. Chief Inspector Jacinto Lipaen, chief of the Pugo municipal police station, told GMANews.TV that the accident happened around 5:40 p.m. when the bus’ brakes malfunctioned while negotiating a downward slope.

The strong impact shattered the front panel of the bus, throwing some of the passengers outside and instantly killing eight. The bus was carrying pilgrims, who were all from the St. Peter Parish in Sta. Rosa, Laguna, on their way back from visiting churches in Baguio City when the accident happened, according to Lipaen. The police chief said passengers who were injured during the accident were brought to the Baguio General Hospital for treatment. Four more, however, died while being treated. Based on information from the Philippine National Police-National Operations Center, the fatalities were identified as Luisa Gumapas, Pamela Africa, Warlito Sayocho, Liberia Reyes, Mercedita Reyes, Eleuteria Reyes, Virginia Ocampo, Lydia Martin, Isabelita Aya, Ines Bañez, and 13-year-old Michael Reyes. Another victim, a woman whose head was severed due to the impact according to reports, has yet to be identified. “Yung cause ng accident allegedly ay loose brakes, kasi sabi nila, bago pa makarating ng boundary, mabilis na ang pagtakbo ng sasakyan," Police Inspector Fermin Sabro said in an interview aired over Sunday’s edition of “24 Oras." (The reported cause of the accident is loose brakes because according to the passengers, the bus was already speeding even before it reached the town boundary.) Some of the passengers who sustained injuries have already been brought back to Sta. Rosa past 3 p.m. Sunday in a passenger bus provided by the municipal government. - KBK, GMANews.TV