A BUS LOAD of Iranian medical students, doctors and their family members plunged down a ravine some 60 feet below the Transcentral Highway in Barangay Cansumoroy, Balamban town, killing at least 20 passengers.
The accident took place at 10:10 a.m. in Sitio C, named after the shape of the road.
As of 10 last night, officials counted 20 dead and 22 injured in the hospital, while two more were not admitted.
After one last body remained, the retrieval operations were suspended past 11 p.m.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Lani-o Nerez told reporters they will resume looking for unaccounted for victims today, while soldiers from the Central Command were tasked to secure the area.
Initially, they were looking for 45 to 50 persons who may have been in the bus.
A group of Iranians arrived last night and claim-ed there were 66 passengers, including three Pakistanis and three Filipinos.
Councilor Dave Karam-ihan, who assisted in the rescue operations, said based on their records, 20 bodies were retrieved from the bus, while 22 were recorded as injured and transferred to private hospitals in Cebu City.
Another two did not suffer serious injuries and were not admitted.
The confusion as to the number of participants of the outing was not immediately resolved as the organizer of the outing was one of those who died.
The group was headed for a resort in Tuburan town when the JB tourist bus, bearing plate number GWZ 666, lost its brakes.
Unconfirmed reports stated the owner was reportedly the one driving the bus. Initial reports identified him as Jaime Batoon, whose name was on the toolbox found on the bus.
Survivor Saleh Hossain-khani, 26, said the bus was speeding down a descending road when the brakes malfunctioned.
“Instead of turning left, he went straight,” said Hossainkhani, who was interviewed at the Balam-ban District Hospital.
The bus fell down the ravine and flipped. If not for a small tree, which stopped its fall, the bus would have plunged deeper down the mountain.
Hossainkhani said most of those who were seated in the front part of the bus were dead.
Lotlot Yap, 38, a nanny of twin Iranian toddlers, also survived the ordeal. She said she did not know what happened because she was attending to Heviche Jahani, a year and seven months old. Heviche’s twin brother was with his mother.
“Paglingi nako, nahulog na mi (When I looked, we had already fallen),” Yap said.
Yap narrated she tried to get out of the bus with the boy.
Sparks
Elmer Navaja and two others, who were building a small house nearby, were first to run to the scene and pull Yap out. They also managed to pull out other survivors.
He said the bus was traveling at a very high speed and that he saw sparks at the wheels. Just as the bus went past the railings, he heard the passengers’ screams of terror.
The bus first hit the electric post then fell down the ravine.
By the time rescuers swarmed the area yesterday morning, they still heard a woman’s cries for help.
Most of the victims died of skull fractures, contusions, multiple lacerations and femoral fractures, said Dr. Eric Abelgas.
They were students or resident doctors of Cebu Doctors’ University and the Gullas School of Medicine.
Quiet
By 3 p.m., Basak-Pardo Barangay Captain Dave Tumulak said it seemed unlikely there were survivors. He said they tapped at the bus and called out for anyone, but there was no response.
The more seriously wounded were airlifted from Balamban to Camp Lapu-Lapu and transferred to hospitals in Cebu City with Philippine Air Force helicopters.
Because the bus was too heavy and bodies were pinned under it, a crane was commissioned from Tsuneishi Industries in Balamban to the area to lift the bus and allow rescuers access to the trapped victims.
However, the crane could not climb the steep road.
Instead, a backhoe from WTG Construction was brought to the area.
Motorists were advised to avoid using the Transcentral Highway yesterday, as vehicles of rescue workers, local governments, police and military were parked at the side of the road where the accident took place.
Balamban Mayor Alex Binghay told reporters that drivers should remember to use low gear while driving along the Transcentral Highway, especially in descending roads.
Holiday
Yesterday’s tragedy was not the first in Sitio C.
Cansumoroy Barangay Captain Emilia Montecillo said there have been at least 20 accidents in the area. The road has railings and warning signs.
Iranian nationals came streaming into Balamban and were shocked at the tragedy. Some of them were overcome with emotion that they could not help but weep and embrace the bodies of their friends.
They helped police in identifying the dead.
David Hajari, one of the Iranians who arrived at the scene, said his friends just wanted to go on a holiday, noting that today was declared a holiday in commemoration of the country’s independence.
He also said it was not true that they had to ask for permission from the Iranian embassy to go about Cebu.
“We are all adults. We can choose to go or not,” he clarified.
He said they will let their ambassador decide how to go about funeral arrangements, lamenting that it cost more to bring the dead back to Iran than the regular plane fare.
“Iranians care about their families. They should really be buried in Iran so the families can visit the graves. This is a really big tragedy. I am shocked,” Hajari said.
In Cebu City, Acting Mayor Michael Rama told the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council (CCDCC) to identify where the City Government, particularly the Department of Social Welfare and Services, could come in to help.
“Notwithstanding if the accident is in Cebu City or not, we always send our disaster facilities, equipment and experts to help save lives,” he said in a phone interview.
Help
The Iranian Embassy based in Makati City has been informed about the tragedy and will send a counselor to Cebu City.
The embassy, through one of its staff, declined to issue a statement until all the information they need is completed.
Meanwhile, Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Patrocinio Comendador Jr. immediately dispatched a team of Mobile Patrol Group operatives led by Senior Insp. Rex Campos to assist the provincial police officers and rescuers.
Campos’ team took charge of directing traffic in the area.
