A passenger bus in the Philippines that was carrying more than 50 people drove off a cliff in Antique, killing dozens.
The bus accident occurred on Tuesday in Barangay Fabrica in Hamtic, Antique. The Antique provincial government and Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said in a developing report that at least 16 people died.
Antique Bus Crash
Officials noted that among the victims were eight who were in critical condition and four others who were considered to be in stable condition. The Ceres Liner bus was said to have been traveling to San Jose de Buenavista, Panay, before driving off the notoriously named "killer curve."
Local authorities said that they have not yet determined the exact cause of the accident. They added that some surviving injured passengers were brought to the Angel Salazar Memorial General Hospital. In a statement, Antique Gov. Rhodora Cadiao said that the provincial government would shoulder all the victims' medical expenses, as per CNN.
She noted that for the families of the victims, it was not the right time to say, "Don't worry." Cadiao added that they were assuring them that whatever hospitalization, medicines, or other needs that they were given would be taken care of.
The governor's remarks on Facebook also noted that she would release an initial financial assistance of roughly $360 to help the victims' families. Later, authorities noted that the bus allegedly had a brake malfunction while driving on a winding road that caused it to fall off a cliff and plunged 30 meters into a ravine.
Cadiao cited how notorious that particular road is and noted that the latest accident marks the second bus that fell off the killer curve. In a Facebook post, the provincial government of Antique said that retrieval operations were halted after all visible bodies on site were pulled up, according to the South China Morning Post.
Falling Off the "Killer Curve"
The passenger bus was said to have fallen off the highway in a part with no concrete barrier. Cadiao added that they have already brought the Department of Public Works and Highways to the attention regarding the incident because the engineering design might be faulty.
The crash comes after a separate bus accident last month resulted in the death of two people and injury of several others in Naga. The fatalities were two men riding on a motorcycle that collided head-on with a tourist bus along SItio Mohon, Barangay Langtad, in the early morning of Nov. 19.
The injuries were found on eight foreign tourists, all Taiwanese nationals, traveling to watch the butanding (whale shark) in Oslob town in Southern Cebu. The Naga City Police Station said in a report that the motorcycle driver and passenger were supposedly under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident.
Law enforcement authorities added that this theory was made because the motorcycle driver and passenger were supposedly seen by witnesses "surfing" or dancing on the motorcycle as it zigzagged before ramming into the larger vehicle, said Cebu Daily News.
