Antique bus mishap death toll now at 18

By Jennifer P. Rendon and Rjay Zuriaga Castor

The Antique bus tragedy death toll now stands at 18 following the death of another passenger.

Arianne Raiven Mejia died while undergoing treatment at the Western Visayas Medical Center in Iloilo City.

Captain Dandy Gonzalodo, Hamtic police chief, said Mejia was pronounced dead at 10:20 p.m. on Dec. 6.

It can be noted that 16 of the 18 fatalities died on the spot after the ill-fated Ceres Bus Liner (body number 6289) plunged into a 30-meter-deep ravine in Barangay Igbucagay. Hamtic, Antique afternoon of Dec. 5.

The 17th fatality, 25-year-old Tom Elizaga, died at a hospital in Iloilo City around 3 a.m. on Dec. 6.

Gonzalodo said four victims are still recuperating at the Angel Salazar Memorial General Hospital in San Jose de Buenavista town while six others, including a Kenyan missionary, are being treated at the WVMC and Iloilo Mission Hospital in Iloilo City.

Only the non-passenger, a 17-year-old pedestrian who was sideswiped, had been discharged.

Meanwhile, the management of Vallacar Transit, Inc., operator of Ceres Bus Liner, assured that it will be assisting the families of eighteen fatalities and eleven wounded passengers.

Further, “VTI is establishing a “Ceres Help Desk”  in the above-mentioned hospitals and in Hamtic Police Station, Antique. Ceres employees have been deployed to assist in the release of medical needs and extension of financial support to the families of the victims. Also, Ceres employees are reaching out to the families of the deceased who have not yet availed of the said assistance. The Ceres Help Desk is situated in the respective lobbies of the said hospitals and at Hamtic Police Starion in Antique.”

It added that they are also mourning the loss of its employees – bus driver Ricky Serios, conductor Wilmar Marcelino, and line Inspectors Jevy Bordago and Jose Glenn Fandagani.

“VTI management is proud and consoled with the thoughts that bus driver, Ricky Serios; conductor, Wilmar Marcelino; line inspectors, Jevy Bordago and Jose Glenn Fandagani were worthy of emulation in saving the lives of a teacher and a pregnant passenger,” the bus company added.

VTI also welcomed the preventive suspension of the twelve units included in the franchise of the unit involved in the accident.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) has recently ordered a 90-day preventive suspension for the entire fleet that travels the same route and initiated an immediate investigation into the accident.

“The management is now processing the necessary documents in compliance with LTFRB’s requirements for the said suspension,” the VTI added.

Despite the suspension, VTI has assured commuters that a “sufficient number of units are available to transport them safely and comfortably to their respective destinations.”

‘DO NO HARM’

VTI also urged the public to refrain from sharing or engaging with misleading videos and images related to the incident.

“The management is appealing for the humane consideration of the public to refrain from posting, sharing, and/or entertaining fake videos and pictures of the accident,” VTI said in a statement released Thursday.

VTI expressed concern that these fabricated videos and pictures are adding emotional distress to the families already grieving the significant loss of their loved ones.

“These fake videos and pictures are adding an emotional toll to the families who are grieving the great loss of their loved ones,” it said.

The Antique provincial government has also urged the public to avoid sharing images and alleged dashcam footage from inside the vehicle during the incident.

“[Authorities] are still in the middle of recovering the dashcam footage of the bus. The video circulating on social media may be harmful and derail the ongoing investigation,” it said in a statement on Wednesday.

A dashcam footage of passengers inside a moving bus involved in an accident has recently circulated on social media.

However, fact-checking procedures by Daily Guardian confirmed that the footage is unrelated to the recent bus accident in Antique.

The circulating footage is an accident that happened on the national highway in Sitio Bagong Silang, Barangay Impalutao, Impasugong, on September 28, 2019, which claimed two lives and injured 20 passengers.