Nine dead in tanker-bus collision in Nueva Ecija

MUNOZ, Nueva Ecija -- Nine people were killed and more than 10 people were injured in a collision between an oil tanker and a passenger bus here Sept. 26.

Senior Supt. Walter Callejos, Nueva Ecija provincial police director, said that among those killed where the drivers of the oil tanker and the Victory Liner bus and its five passengers.

Also killed were a man and a woman, whose motorcycle was also hit during the collision.

Callejos said that the Manila-bound bus and the tanker collided along the Maharlika Road in SitioKurba, Barangay Bantog at around 2:30 a.m.

He said that the bus was carrying 46 passengers. At least 11 people were injured in the road mishap.

Radio reports said that the surviving conductor of the bus and the companion of the tanker's driver have been invited for questioning at the local police station.

Following the incident, local officials urged motorists, particularly drivers of public vehicles to be more careful as they hold the lives if passengers under their control.

Some drivers here have been observed to be reckless and abusive especially when they were drunk.