His vehicle moved backwards when he decelerated. He stepped on the brakes but the area was too steep.
SPO3 Romulo Ermac, traffic investigator, said the vehicle hit a pothole, causing it to tumble and rest on its side.
Estrellita Lastimosa, 58, and a young man at least 20 years old, reportedly jumped out of the mini-bus, but it pinned them down.
Of the 28 to 30 passengers, 17 were brought to the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) for various injuries.
Steep
In a radio dyLA interview, Bellita said he steered the vehicle to the direction of the canal because the other side was a cliff.
“Sobida man gyud kaayo. Ang ubang dyip gani dili mo-agi diha. Ang pikas side pangpang, wala’y siguro mahurot mi didto,” he said. (It was too steep. Other jeepneys would not even pass by the area, which sits atop a cliff. We could have all died had the vehicle fallen.)
The mini-bus left Tabunok, Talisay City around 11:30 a.m. for Barangay Sudlon II, Cebu City via the Manipis road.
The passengers were either in Tabunok to buy supplies at the public market or on their way home after visiting relatives for Christmas, said Bellita.
He was negotiating the road in Sinsin around 1:30 p.m. and was about to reach the highest portion when he encountered the grader, which was going downhill.
The grader managed to stop and reverse its direction. The mini-bus was faster, so Bellita was forced to apply the brakes.
But the soil was loose.
The grader was among the heavy equipment that scraped the road’s surface as part of the widening project of the City Government. The project’s workers drove the victims to the CCMC, in government trucks.
Bellita said the mini-bus was not overloaded because it has a capacity of 48 passengers. The vehicle was carrying 15 sacks of rice and six liquefied petroleum gas tanks.
“Usahay gani mokarga mi’g 50 ka sako. Wala ra man. Disgrasya lang gyud to,” Bellita said. (Sometimes we load 50 sacks of rice. It was just an accident.)
He was temporarily detained at the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management stockade. He may be facing complaints for “reckless imprudence resulting in double homicide and multiple physical injuries with damage to properties.”
Bellita said that Lastimosa’s husband already visited him to ask what happened, and understood that it was an accident. (RHM)
