THIRTEEN of the 42 passengers of a Ceres Liner bus were injured after it hit the rear of a sugarcane truck parked beside the road at Crossing Busay in Manapla, Negros Occidental early Monday morning.
Most of the victims were teenagers who came from the festival in neighboring city of Cadiz.
Twelve of them sustained minor injuries and were discharged from the hospital while Julia Kennedy, 57, was seriously wounded and still confined at a private hospital in Bacolod City.
Senior Inspector Julius Caesar Colado, Manapla town police chief, said the bus driven by Dominiciano Panugaling Jr. was on its way to Bacolod City when the accident happened at 4:30 a.m.
Colado said Panugaling failed to see the vehicle parked beside the roads due to the bright headlights of the approaching vehicle.
Panugaling and the bus conductor were unharmed.
Jade Marquez Seballos, legal and media relations manager of Ceres operator Vallacar Transit Inc., said they provided immediate medical assistance to the victims.
The bus company is conducting an investigation to determine who’s at fault she added.
Panugaling is detained at Manapla Municipal Police Station while the investigation is ongoing.