A passenger bus fell on its side after the driver lost control when the bus hit a motorcycle at around 1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 12, 2023, in Barangay Banhigan, Badian town, southwestern Cebu. The accident caused the death of a 15-year-old boy and injury to 25 others. | Contributed photo
CEBU CITY — A 15-year-old boy died in a tragic road accident involving a bus and a motorcycle in Barangay Banhigan, Badian town, southwestern Cebu at past 1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 12.
Police Major James Conaco, Badian Police Station chief, identified in a report the dead victim as Mark Genson Divellares of Barangay Poblacion Uno, Malabuyoc town in southwestern Cebu.
Conaco said that Divellares was one of the passengers of the bus.
He also said that 25 people were also injured in the Badian accident.
These were the 21 bus passengers, the bus driver, the bus conductor, the motorcycle driver and his female backrider.
Initial investigation showed that both vehicles were heading south to Alegria town when the bus bumped the motorcycle at past 1 p.m.
The motorcycle driver, Atilano Jabagat, 52, had just picked up his passenger, 60-year-old Rosemarie Rotaquio and just as they were to go into the right lane, the speeding bus clipped them.
The bus driver, Ben Sarsalejo, 48, of Talibon, Bohol, then lost control of the vehicle, overshot its lane and then fell on its side.
A closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage from the municipality’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) caught the accident as it happened.
According to Police Corporal Norman Aparee of the Badian Police Station in a phone interview with CDN Digital, that of the 21 passengers injured, 15 of them were admitted to the Badian District Hospital.
He said three children — a 10-year-old boy and two four-year-old girls — were among those admitted to the hospital.
Aparee, however, said that these passengers suffered slight injuries.
He also said that the 52-year-old motorcycle driver and his 60-year-old female passenger only suffered cuts and bruises in the accident, they were treated at the hospital and they were allowed to go home after that.
Aparee said that the bus driver, Sarsalejo, suffered slight injuries and was also not admitted to the hospital.
He said Sarsalejo was arrested and detained at the Badian Police Station detention cell pending the filing of charges.
In his report, Police Major Conaco said that Sarsalejo would be facing charges of reckless imprudence resulting to homicide, damage to property and multiple injuries.
Badian is a third class municipality of the province of Cebu, which is situated 97 kilometers southwest of Cebu City.
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