THREE persons, including a pregnant woman and her unborn child, were killed after a passenger bus rammed into a UV Express and an eatery along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City early Friday.
Kristine Joy San Felipe, who was six months pregnant, was waiting for a ride when an A. Prado bus with plate number UVP 625 hit the bystanders and pedestrians as it turned left at the corner of Regalado and Commonwealth Avenue.
San Felipe was rushed to the Fairview General Hospital but was declared dead on arrival.
Hospital staff also tried to save the unborn baby but failed.
Aside from San Felipe, a pedestrian identified as John Michael Mallari,22, died on the spot.
The bus, which came from Fairview, also hit an eatery and a UV Express van with plate number UVR 695 on the corner of the intersection.
Twelve others were injured and brought to the hospital for treatment.
The driver of the bus, Mark Joey Acedera, was unhurt.
He is now in the custody of the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) Traffic Unit and will face cases of reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicide and multiple physical injury.
According to SPO1 Rabindranath Sierra, witnesses said the bus was going too fast and the driver kept changing lanes before losing control.
Acedera asked forgiveness from the family of the victims.
He claimed that the brakes of the bus failed.
However, the human resources administration officer of Martel Bus which owns A. Prado buses said the brakes of their buses were not defective.
Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) chairman Winston Ginez who visited the victims at the Commonwealth General Hospital, ordered the suspension of operation of 30 units of A. Prado buses.
Martel Bus Company committed to pay for the victims’ hospital expenses.