BAGAC, Bataan — Two female excursionists died while 16 others, including the driver, were injured when their passenger jeepney lost its brake, hit a concrete posts and plunged into the hilly portion of adjacent to the Governor J.J. Linao Avenue here on Saturday.
Police Senior Inspector Albert Manabat, Bagac deputy police chief, said the jeepney with 17 passengers and a driver was going down the steep curved portion of the road in Barangay Binukawan when the vehicle lost its brake and ran in top speed before hitting a concrete electric post and later landed upside down.
“The two victims were declared dead on arrival at the Bagac Community Medicare Hospital,” he said. They were identified as May Kawamura, 39 and Yannie Sanguyo, 30.
The 55-year old jeepney driver Edmundo Balmaceda said he was in high gear and was to shift it to low gear but his brake malfunctioned. “I always been checking the break and it was okay. But when I arrived at a place to shift into low gear, the brake malfunctioned,” he said. Balmaceda complained of hurting his feet.
The victims were first rushed to the nearby Bagac Community Medicare Hospital, where the two women were declared dead on arrival.
The excursionists and the driver came from Floridablanca, Pampanga and were heading to a beach in Bagac.
They were later transferred to the Bataan General Hospital in Balanga City where seven were confined, one transferred to a hospital in Pampanga while the others were already released.
Manabat said charges were being prepared against the driver under the custody of the Bagac police. Ernie Esconde/PNA-northboundasia.com