3 killed,10 injured as
bus hits houses
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Three persons, two of them minors, were killed, and 10 were injured, when a Ceres bus headed north swerved out of control on the highway in Barangay Damgo, EB Magalona town, Negros Occidental, hitting two houses, at about 1:40 p.m. yesterday, a police report said.

Bus driver Jess Amable Martinez, 44, allegedly tried to overtake a vehicle in front of him but hesitated because of an approaching truck on the opposite lane of a curving road. As Martinez returned to his lane, he hit the brakes to avoid hitting the vehicle in front, causing the Ceres bus to swerve to the right and hit the houses beside the highway where a group of people playing bingo were gathered, the report said.

But Martinez claimed he swerved his vehicle to avoid another coming from the shoulder of the road that suddenly made a U-turn, Inspector Leonardo Cubing, EB Magalona deputy police chief, said.

Howling wind lashes Hinobaan
BUT ‘PABLO’ SPARES REST OF NEG. OCC.
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Howling wind from Typhoon Pablo destroyed several houses, and toppled a vehicle, light posts and trees in Hinobaan town, but spared most of Negros Occidental from its wrath.

As of 11 last night the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services said “Pablo” continued to weaken as it moved toward Northern Palawan.

Storm Signal Number 3 remained over southern Negros Occidental but is expected to be lifted today.

The earth caved in when a cargo truck passed through a rough road in the center of Barangay Sikatuna, Isabela town in Negros Occidental, yesterday and created a sinkhole that was growing in size, a town official said.

The sinkhole initially measured four feet deep with a radius of one meter in the barangay that is 27 kilometers from the town proper, Carlos Malabor, executive assistant to Mayor Francis Malabor said.

The rainwater filling the sinkhole is making it grow bigger and the area has been cordoned off, as the earth could cave in further, he said.