1 killed, 15 hurt in another bus-related accident

MANILA, Philippines - A tricycle driver was killed in yet another bus-related accident in La Union province before dawn Friday, a radio report said early Saturday. Radio dzBB's Benjie Liwanag Jr. reported that the incident involved a Fariñas bus (AVD-151, Body No. 84) driven by Leonardo Castillo, 44; that killed driver Ronnie Orteza, 41. Some 15 passengers of the bus, including a one-year-old boy, were injured in the incident, the report said. The incident occurred at 3:30 a.m. near an intersection on the national highway at San Fernando City, when Castillo tried to overtake the tricycle but rammed into it instead. San Fernando City police director Supt. Pedro Obaldo Jr. said the northbound bus tried to overtake the tricycle, but rammed it when the tricycle suddenly made a turn. The bus dragged the tricycle 20 meters before it hit a building. Castillo was immediately taken into custody and faces charges of reckless imprudence resulting to homicide and multiple injuries and damage to property. It was the latest in a series of bus-related incidents dating back to Oct. 21, when a speeding bus rammed a sedan along Epifanio delos Santos Avenue in Quezon City, killing a doctor. Last Nov. 1, a passenger bus hit a Toyota Revo along the North Luzon Expressway in Pampanga, killing a Claretian priest.- GMANews.TV