Bus crash in the southern Philippines kills 5, injures 22

USPA News - Five people were killed Tuesday and more than 20 others were injured when a bus crashed into railings along a road in the southern region of the Philippines, disaster management officials said on Wednesday. The cause was not immediately known.

The accident occurred at around 10:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday when the driver of the Island City Express Bus lost control and slammed into railings along a road on the popular island of Samal, which is officially known as the Island Garden City of Samal, in the province of Davao del Norte. Benito Ramos, the Executive Director of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), said five people between the ages of 17 and 53 were killed "Cadavers of the victims were brought to Pena Plata Emergency District Hospital for autopsy," he said. In addition to the fatalities, twenty-two people between the ages of 1 and 83 were injured in the accident. "Central 911, together with the Philippine Red Cross (PRC) Davao Chapter Volunteers, brought the 22 injured victims to Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City for further assessment," Ramos added. The exact cause of the accident was not immediately known, although a local disaster management official told Inquirer News that the vehicle may have suffered a malfunction as its brakes stopped working. In order to avoid crashing down a ravine, the driver crashed into a boulder while maneuvering a hill in the village of Kaputian. Among those killed was the bus driver, identified as 53-year-old Simfoniano Rubio of Poblacion Babak on the island.