Zambo Sur gas blast: Baby, lawmen among 28 victims

(Update 7, Feb 3, 8:12 am) The death toll from Friday’s grim chemical-truck explosion in Zamboanga del Sur rose to 28 Saturday. The authorities recovered the bodies of a military corporal, a fireman and a four-month-old baby. Police reports, however, said at least nine of the fatalities were too mangled or disfigured to be identified. Radio station dzRH reported that as of Saturday morning, the total number of victims had risen to 28. The report also quoted one of the surviving drivers as saying that the truck (JVC-974) was carrying liquid sodium dioxide when it crashed along the national highway Friday morning. Earlier reports had said that the truck was carrying compressed carbon dioxide, and even much earlier, liquefied petroleum gas. Many of the victims are believed to be bus passengers who had stopped to help when the truck fell off the road just before the explosion at Tigbao, Zamboanga del Sur. Senior Superintendent Ramon Ochotorena, provincial police director, said personnel involved in the rescue effort were having a hard time determining the exact casualty count because severed body parts were blown hundreds of meters away from the scene. "This is a case wherein the media says that the vehicle was 'blown into smithereens,'" he said in Filipino during an interview on dzBB radio. His forecast was grim: "I don't think there is anybody left alive here. All that we are recovering here are corpses." He said at least 15 people were hospitalized, although he could not confirm if they were now in better health. Western Mindanao regional police director Chief Superintendent Jaime Caringal, however, said in a separate interview that the number of wounded had risen to 35. The blast happened at about 10:30 a.m. Friday along the national highway of Zamboanga del Sur province, about 20 kms away from Pagadian City. A tanker lost its brakes as it was moving downhill at a mountain area of Tigbao town. It crashed, leaving compressed carbon dioxide gas tanks scattered on the highway. Passengers of a passing RS Transit Bus (plate JVC-775) stopped by to help, but eventually suffered the brunt of the explosion some 20 minutes later. Good Samaritans Most of the fatalities were bus passengers, police said. The rest were local folk or other passersby who also wanted to lend helping hands. The blast was so powerful that the truck's transmission was found some 1,000 meters away while the engine was recovered about 700 meters from "ground zero." Tigbao Mayor Edmundo Dalid told GMA News that the death toll may climb to as many as 50. Ochotorena said responding police and Army personnel will most likely end the retrieval operation by Sunday. Tigbao is a fifth-class town with a population of 16,914 people in 3,089 households. Injured: 35 persons The report also said that the more than 35 persons injured in the accident included two employees of the local Department of Interior office. Vice Mayor Ireneo Glepa of Molave town in Zamboanga del Sur was himself shocked after his Toyota Innova sustained damage from the blast. Glepa was passing through the area on his way to attend a seminar. His vehicle was 100 meters away from the truck when it exploded. As of Saturday morning, 19 of the fatalities had been identified : Anna Dablo, 26, of Guipos town in Zamboanga del Sur; Anna Fe Villarta, 23, of Bayog town in Zamboanga del Sur; Cpl. Aurelio Ansao, 28, of Bayog; RJ Ansagan, of Binuhay town in Zamboanga del Sur; Cabiera Loper, 29; Saturlito Malinao; Bienvenido Villaganas of Guipos town in Zamboanga del Sur; Ernie Jason; Ronnie Jimena; Belchie Bob Berbaño; Leonardo Nava Dios, 29; Cabrera Baby Boy, 4 months old; Fire officer Olympio Alcazaren Jr., 37, of Pagadian City; Richard Abelgas, 21, of Pagadian City; Narciso Maglon, 18; Flaviano Soriano, 52, of Bayog, Zamboanga del Sur; a certain Abu-abo; and Noel Bahinting, driver of the ill-fated chemical tanker truck. Bahinting hailed from Cagayan de Oro City. Authorities have yet to identify the nine other victims whose bodies were described to have been rendered “wasak at hiwalay (mangled and disfigured)." Relatives of some of the victims have gone to funeral parlors where the dead were brought to claim the bodies of their loved ones. No word from owners The authorities have yet to hear from the owners of the truck in the deadly explosion. On Friday night, truck helper Mark Glenn Tahum, who was injured but was spared from the explosion, told QTV-11 television that he had not heard from the owners of the truck. “Hindi pa sila dumarating dito (They haven’t even come here)," Tahum, who was rushed to a nearby hospital, said when asked if the owners had managed to contact him. When asked about his condition, he said he was “okay," and that some passengers of a passing bus had rushed him to a nearby hospital before the truck exploded. Citing Land Transportation Office (LTO) documents, Zamboanga del Sur police had traced to Cavite province the firm that owns the truck. The QTV report said the LTO documents indicated the truck belonged to Ricasa Trading and Allied Services based in Noveleta district in Cavite City. He said there was no sign of leaking from the tank, saying he did not smell anything prior to the truck driver losing control of the vehicle. “Wala na ako noong sumabog. Tinulungan ko ang kaibigan ko, sugatan ang kasama ko (I was not at the scene anymore when the truck exploded. I helped bring a wounded co-helper to the hospital)," he said. Stench of crude Meanwhile, Merlyn Berbano, a passerby, told QTV-11 that before the blast the area was filled with the stench of crude oil. But she learned later from other people who arrived at the scene after the blast that the truck was carrying compressed carbon dioxide gas for the manufacture of coke. Berbano said she broke her foot as she sought for cover. She was 10 meters away from the blast site. Her husband did not make it. He suffered severe burns and was confined at the Iligan Hospital, according to Berbano. - GMANews.TV