Bus catches fire along Commonwealth Avenue

Tension gripped passengers of a bus that caught fire while travelling along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City Wednesday morning, a radio report said. No one was reported hurt in the incident. A Metropolitan Manila Development Authority traffic aide said he signaled the driver of the Newman Goldman Liner bus to pull over after seeing its underside on fire. "Napansin ko umaapoy kaya ko sinenyasan ang driver na tumabi... nakita ko umaapoy ang ilalim (I saw the underside of the bus on fire so I signaled the driver to pull over)," the aide said in an interview on dzBB radio. A report by dzBB's Allan Gatus said the bus pulled over at the portion of Commonwealth Avenue near Tandang Sora and Old Balara village. The driver and conductor had the passengers get out of the bus and tried to pour water on the burning part, the report said. 'Killer highway' Commonwealth Avenue has been considered a killer highway because of the high number of vehicular accidents that occurred there. An earlier report on The Manila Times cited records from the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) showing at least 2,743 accidents happened along Commonwealth Avenue in 2010. Of this number, 21 were fatal; 608 were non-fatal and 2,114 resulted in damage to property. But since January this year, at least 100 people have been arrested for speeding and slapped with a fine of P1,200. A separate story on Journal Online said the more than 2,000 accidents is almost 8 percent of the total number of road accidents that occurred in Quezon City. — RSJ, GMA News