19 jeep riders, driver survive Bontoc crash

By Dionisio Dennis, Jr.  

BONTOC, Mountain Province – Two of 19 passengers of a jeepney that figured in an accident Monday while on the way to a wedding in Benguet are still in the hospital, police said. 

Maj. Joshua Belien Mateo, acting chief of police of Bontoc municipal police station, said Tuesday that driver Clifford Chamkas and passenger Banayan Saowad were already discharged from the Luis Hora Memorial Regional Hospital. The two other injured passengers, Rosita Awingan and Betty Fararao, both 65 years old, are still at the same hospital.
    All other passengers are now safe, he added.

On Monday, the group went to Madaymen, Buguias to attend a wedding of a relative.

The jeepney experienced mechanical failure, prompting the driver to ram the vehicle to the mountainside in Bontoc, Mountain Province, to avoid falling in the ravine.

The vehicle fell to its side, injuring four persons.

In an earlier interview, Land Transportation Office-Cordillera Administrative Region director Francis Almora said one of the main causes of accidents is overloading.

He reminded the public to always observe the capacity limit of vehicles as a precautionary measure. -- PNA