A toddler boy lost both his parents after a bus rammed into a line of vehicles at the Tarlac City Toll Plaza along the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX) on Thursday, killing 10 people including four children and injuring at least 37 others.

The boy, believed to be around two to three years old, was found crying strapped in a child car seat inside a wrecked van. His parents did not survive.

“Doon po sa dalawang sasakyan, sa Urvan, nakaligtas po ‘yung driver at sa kotse naman po ‘yung isang baby na bata...” Marvin Guiang, head of the Tarlac Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, told Super Radyo dzBB.

The deadly collision, which happened at the northbound lane of SCTEX, involved five vehicles—including a bus, a van, and two SUVs. 

Authorities said the Solid North Transit bus rammed into the vehicles waiting at the toll plaza, triggering a chain reaction.

“Pagdating po nitong Solid North Transit, unang binangga niya ay yung Nissan Urvan. Yung Nissan Urvan naman po binangga niya po yung Kia Sonet. Yung Kia Sonet binangga naman niya yung tractor head. Yung tractor head binangga naman niya yung Toyota Veloz,” Police Lt. Col. Romel Santos, chief of the Tarlac Provincial Police Office, told Super Radyo ddzBB.

Rescuers said the crash's impact was so strong that it crushed some of the vehicles almost beyond recognition.

“Sobra po ‘yung impact ng pagkakabangga, talagang totally crushed po ‘yung mga biktima natin doon sa dalawang sasakyan na na-sandwich po,” Guiang said.

Among the dead were four children. Eight of the fatalities were inside the van, while two were inside a compact SUV. Over 35 others, mostly bus passengers, suffered injuries.

Hospital staff struggled to identify the victims as most were rushed in without their families. 

Many of the injured arrived at the Tarlac Provincial Hospital without any IDs. Personal belongings such as phones and bags are being kept at the hospital while staff wait for relatives to call.

According to hospital records, most of the fatalities were from Antipolo City.

According to Santos, the bus driver admitted he had dozed off at the wheel. He is now in police custody.

The Department of Transportation (DOTr) has since ordered the immediate suspension of Solid North Transit and is calling for a meeting with all bus operators.

“Aalamin ko talaga. Tatapatin ko sila. Ano bang nangyayari bakit puro kayo aksidente?” DOTr Secretary Vince Dizon told Unang Balita.

“Hindi lang po suspensyon ang aabutin nila dito,” he added.

From the place of the incident, the traffic along SCTEX’s northbound lane reached two kilometers after the lane was closed on Thursday.

(with reports from Joviland Rita and Vince Angelo Ferreras, GMA Integrated News)