5 dead, nine injured as tourist van falls off cliff in Mt. Province

Five people died while nine others were injured after a tourist van fell off a cliff in Sadanga, Mt. Province on Friday night.

The incident occurred at around 10 p.m. in Ampawilen in Poblacion, Sadanga, the Mt. Province Police said.

The van, a white Nissan, slipped and fell off a 50-meter cliff and landed in the river, police added.

The fatalities are three males and two females, and were pronounced dead on the spot.

The survivors were brought to Bontoc General Hospital in Bontoc, Mt. Province for medical treatment.

An investigation by the PNP Cordillera Administrative Region revealed that the tour van carried 12 tourists, a tour coordinator, and a driver and was bound for Buscalan, Kalinga.

“Galing silang iba-ibang lugar pero nag-convene sila sa Manila. Ang purpose nila is to visit the famous Apo Whang Od,” said PNP-Car Regional Public Information Officer Police Lieutenant Colonel Carolina Lacuata in Darlene Cay's report on 24 Oras Weekend on Saturday.

(They came from different places, but they convened in Manila. Their purpose is to visit the famous Apo Whang Od.)

Authorities believe a flat tire might have caused the accident, but further investigation is needed to determine the exact cause.

“For now, hindi pa natin maidentify talaga kung ano yung totoong nangyari. Hindi madulas yung kalsada dahil hindi umulan. Sementado naman doon sa area, kaya lang may napansin ang ating mga imbestigador na parang may scratch ng metal sa kalsada,” said Lacuata.

(For now, we still aren’t able to identify what really happened. The road wasn’t slippery since it hadn’t rained. The area is also cemented, but investigators noticed a metal scratch on the road.)

“Mukhang naflat siguro yung sasakyan. Hindi na nacontrol ng ating driver ang sasakyan kaya nahulog… Parang ganoon po ang theory for now,” she added.

(It seems like they got a flat tire. The driver wasn’t able to control the vehicle, so it fell… That is the theory for now.)

Meanwhile, the van driver’s wife said her husband had been traveling the same path for three years.

“Nanaginip po ako nung gabi. Hindi ko na po sana siya papaalisin. Panaginip ko nalaglag yung van sa bangin. Pero kasama po ako, yung pangitain ko. Tapos bigla akong nagising. Kinabahan na po ako. Tapos gano'n na nga po,” said Bhaves Hernandez, whose husband was among the fatalities.

(I had a dream that night. I was about to stop him from leaving. I dreamed that the van fell off a cliff. But in my dream, I was there too. Then, I woke up. I got nervous about it, then that’s what happened.)

“Weekly po siyang umaakyat po talaga ng Bontoc… Three years na po, ngayon pa nagkaganyan… Kaya po nagtataka po ako paano nangyari yun,” she added.

(He drives up to Bontoc weekly… It’s been three years, and this only happened now… That’s why I was wondering how this happened.)

She added that they were the owners of the van that the travel agency regularly rented out for joiners' tours. Its registration as a tourist transport service was verified by the PNP.

GMA Integrated News has reached out to the travel and tours agency for comment. —with reports from Peewee Bacuño and Jiselle Anne Casucian/KG/VBL, GMA Integrated News