AGOO, La Union — Nineteen persons including children and a five-month-old baby were confirmed to have died on the spot, while 26 were injured in a Christmas Day road accident along the national highway in San Jose village here around 3:30 a.m., police said.
A still unconfirmed report, however, said the number of fatalities had risen to 20 as another victim died in the hospital.
Chief Inspector Roy Villanueva, Agoo police chief, said the fatalities, all passengers of a jeepney, were from Barangay Pilar, Bauang, La Union and were on their way to Manaoag, Pangasinan.
The south-bound jeepney, he said, was loaded with 29 passengers, mostly members of a family and their relatives, when the driver allegedly tried to overtake another vehicle but miscalculated the distance of a speeding Partas bus.
Report said 10 of the 26 injured were from the ill-fated jeepney while the rest were from the Partas bus.
For his part, Senior Inspector Eugene Balagot, Deputy Chief of Agoo Police Station, said in a radio interview that the victims, after celebrating Christmas eve with relatives in Bauang town, decided to go to the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag in Pangasinan to hear Christmas Mass.
Police are still conducting investigation to identify the fatalities and injured victims including the driver of the jeep who was declared dead on the spot.
The jeep was totally wrecked due to the impact of the collision while the bus incurred damage.
The fatalities and injured victims were brought to the Family Hospital and La Union Medical Center, both in Agoo town.
As of this posting, some of the injured bus passengers were already discharged from the hospital. (PNA)
