Over 19 hurt in bus accidents in Bataan, Mindoro Oriental

More than 19 people were hurt in at least two bus accidents in Bataan and Mindoro Oriental provinces early Wednesday, police said. In Mindoro Oriental, at least 19 passengers were injured after a bus heading for Manila from Iloilo sustained a flat tire and crashed in Calapan City. "Sa 39 na pasahero, 19 ang nadala sa hospital. Sa ngayon apat na pasahero ang natitira sa Maria Estrella Hospital (Of the 39 passengers of the bus, 19 were rushed to the Maria Estrella Hospital but only four remained as of Wednesday morning)," Calapan police head Superintendent Christopher Abecia said in an interview on dzBB radio. He said the incident occurred at 3:30 a.m. as the bus was negotiating a curve in Lumangbayan village in Calapan City. The Ceres Bus (DXU-921) was heading for Manila from Iloilo when it sustained a flat tire and turned on its side while negotiating a curve. Abecia said the bus driver, initially identified as Darly Dave Lim, surrendered to authorities after the incident. He said the area where the accident occurred was not accident-prone but noted the road may have been slippery due to rains there Tuesday night. "Nagkataon na umulan kagabi (It so happened that it was raining Tuesday night)," he said. Also, he said initial investigation showed the bus was running at 50 kph at the time of the accident. Bataan road accident In Bataan, PO2 Joel Dola of the Dinalupihan town police said an undetermined number of passengers of a minibus and a van were hurt in a road accident at 8 a.m. Wednesday. Dola said the incident occurred along the highway when the bus' brakes malfunctioned and hit the van. "Ang bus galing Dinalupihan papuntang Olongapo (The bus was heading from Dinalupihan to Olongapo in Zambales)," he said. He said there were some 50 passengers aboard the bus, many of whom were rushed to the James Gordon Hospital in Olongapo. While he said they do not know how many were injured, he said the drivers of the bus and the van were among those injured. "Lumalabas ang bus nakabunggo dahil nawalan ng preno (It appeared the bus hit the van after its brakes failed)," he said. — RSJ, GMA News