Baby among 23 passengers hurt as bus falls off Benguet ravine

Tuba, Benguet – A 10-month-old baby was among 23 passengers who were hurt when a Victory Liner bus hurtled down a 37-foot ravine in Tuba, Benguet at about 3:45 a.m. yesterday.

Senior Superintendent Rodolfo Azurin Jr., Benguet provincial director, said the Baguio-bound bus driven by Levy Domasig Dipad with 46 passengers on board was cruising along Sitio Umesbeg, Taloy Sur in Tuba town when a truck travelling in the opposite direction encroached on the lane of the bus as it negotiated a sharp curve.

FALLEN BUS – A Victory Liner bus bound for Baguio lies precariously at the top edge of a deep ravine in Barangay Taloy, Marcos Highway, Benguet after it tried to evade a truck at around 3 a.m. yesterday. No one was seriously hurt among the 42 passengers, including the driver. (Larry P. Fabian)

To prevent a collision, the conductor Michael Rodriguez, 41, said Dipad maneuvered the wheel to the right but because of the contour of the road the bus fell off the 37-foot drainage canal, dropping on its side.

Azurin said the passengers did not sustained major injuries. He identified the foreign tourist as Vesa Puosi of Finland, 25, who was unscathed.

Twenty-three passengers, however, were taken to Baguio City General and Medical Center for treatment of their injuries. They were identified as:  Rehana Lasingo Malaco, 17, of Carmona, Laguna; and five others from Biñan, Laguna – Joel M. Mangubat, 37; Ricardo M. Tolentino, 39; Daniel Tamondong, 2; Junie Dacanay, 25; Raingel Pelaez, 31; Renato Rafael Dizon Dizon, 45, of Natividad, Pangasinan; Charry Adane, 23, of Tubao, La Union; Myrna O. Roperto, 23,of Irisan, Baguio City; Romilo P. Florez, 49, of Baguio City; Christopher A. Dacanay, 26, Baguio City; Sheila Marcos, 21, Baguio City; nd Brade Stephen Malanao, 10 months old,  of Hillside, Baguio City.

Those from Benguet and Mountain Province who were injured were Arlene Landisan, 30, Buguias, Benguet; Benjamen Landisan, 38, Elmerito Fonseca, 55,of  La Trinidad, Benguet; Arlene Abiento, 33,of La Trinidad, Benguet; Angelita Degay, 31,of Bauko, Mountain Province; Polmores Degay, 35, of Bauko, Mountain Province; Mark Pino, 24, of Itogon, Benguet; Noraina Lasingo Malaco, 26; Walfina Lasingo Malaco, 24; and bus driver Dipad, 53.

(With reports from Aaron B. Recuenco, Czarina Nicole O. Ong, and Freddie G. Lazaro)