50 hurt as bus overturns in Negros

MANILA, Philippines - At least 50 passengers were injured, 23 of them seriously, when a passenger bus they were riding overturned in Sipalay City in Negros Occidental before dawn Monday. Online news site Visayan Daily Star (www.visayandailystar.com) said the incident occurred at 5:45 a.m., while the Ceres Liner bus was negotiating a blind downhill curve. Initial investigation showed bus driver Medardo Belnas, 57, lost control of the bus when its brakes failed as they passed Mambaroto village in Sipalay City. Sipalay police director Chief Inspector Arnel Arpon said the Bacolod-bound Ceres Liner bus fell on its side when Belnas applied the brakes. Arpon said a dense clump of bamboos in the area prevented the bus from falling into a ravine, which may have resulted in possible deaths and more serious injuries. The 23 passengers who were seriously hurt are now confined in different hospitals in Bacolod and Kabankalan, while others are being treated at the Sipalay City Health Office Clinic. Belnas and fare collector, Romualdo Ologan, were both unhurt but shaken. They are now under police custody. Police records show that Camp Clark in Barangay Mambaroto in Sipalay, is an accident-prone area. The Ceres Liner bus which came from Bayawan, Negros Oriental and made a stopover in Hinobaan, Negros Occidental, had 54 passengers. - GMANews.TV