41 wounded after bus hits arch in Burgos, La Union

Forty-one individuals, including the driver and the conductor, were injured after a passenger bus coming from Baguio City hit an arch in Burgos, La Union, on Thursday evening.

According to Tina Panganiban-Perez’s report in “24 Oras” on Friday, the door of the dilapidated bus was jammed, forcing the passengers to exit through the broken glass window at the back of the vehicle.

Various hospitals received the wounded individuals.

Initial investigation showed that the bus may have encountered mechanical failure, which caused it to overshoot from the curved road and hit the arch.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) already issued a show cause order to the operator of Scarllette Jayde Transport.

The agency also suspended for 30 days the operation of one bus unit, the document also read.

“So kapag may mechanical defect ‘yan, talagang kapabayaan ‘yan ng operator. The operator failed to exercise utmost due diligence to determine the roadworthiness of their units,” said LTFRB spokesperson Ariel Inton.

(So if it’s proven that there was a mechanical defect, it’s the responsibility of the operator. The operator failed to exercise utmost due diligence to determine the roadworthiness of their units.)

Moreover, the LTFRB also issued a show cause order to the First Forwarders Co., Inc., the company that handles the franchise of the truck involved in the six-vehicle pileup in Marikina on Wednesday evening.  — Vince Angelo Ferreras/VBL, GMA Integrated News