MANILA – Two persons died and 15 others injured, some seriously, after a jeepney carrying excursionists went out of control, hit an electric post and turned turtle Saturday morning in Bagac, Bataan.
Initial reports showed the jeepney, with license plate CKK-760 and rented by residents of Floridablanca, Pampanga for their outing, was traversing the zig-zag portion of the Jayjay Linao National Highway in Barangay Binukawan,
Bagac, Bataan when its brakes failed and the driver lost control.
Insp. Arnold Manabat, Bagac deputy chief of police, said the victims were on their way to a beach in Bagac when the incident happened around 7:40 a.m.
Jeepney driver Edmundo Balmaceda told police the trip had been uneventful when the brakes suddenly failed while they were traversing the zigzag portion. He tried to resort to engine brake to slow down the jeepney’s surge, but the down shift did not work.
He then decided to just crash the vehicle into the mountainside to prevent it from falling into the ravine.
The jeepney hit an electric post and overturned, killing two people on impact.
The driver said the impact was so strong even he was surprised when he realized he had survived.
Dead on arrival in hospital were May Nanquil Kawamura and her niece Yannie Pascual Sanguyo. Kawamura had just arrived from Japan.
Manabat said five of the wounded are still under observation at the Bataan Provincial General Hospital and the rest have been sent home.
Manabat said charges of reckless imprudence resulting in double homicide and damage to property and serious and light physical injuries will be filed against the jeepney driver.
