Manila Bulletin reporting 13 dead
Train derailed in Quezon; 13 dead
GMA orders suspension of PNP operations
By ARIS R. ILAGAN, BENJIE ANTIOQUIA, JEN JORVINA, & JUANCHITO RUIZ
PAF team leads rescue work; 142 hurt
At least 13 passengers died while 142 others were seriously injured when a train of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) with about 350 passengers on board fell into a ravine in barangay Duhat, Padre Burgos town, Quezon province, early yesterday morning, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) at Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City, reported yesterday.
The train came from Legaspi City in Albay and was bound for Manila when the accident occurred.
In his report to President Arroyo, Defense Secretary and NDCC Chairman Avelino Cruz Jr. said elements of the 505th Rescue Group of the Philippine Air Force from Villamor Air Base in Pasay City and Fernando Air Base in Lipa City, Batangas, immediately went to the area to conduct rescue operations for train survivors.
Reports relayed by the Quezon Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council to the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) identified 11 of the fatalities as Rosemarie Remo, 24; Arnold Jester, 3; Rudy Bolanos, 64; Irene Cardenas, 28; MJ Cardenas, 1; Aida Alconar, 53; Delima Lauta of Sipocot, Camarines Sur; Miguela Elec of Los Baños, Laguna; Merrieta Martinez Relos, 28; Narcisa Lambingan of Lucena City; and Rowena Miralle, 28 of GMA, Cavite.
The OCD said 147 other passengers were rushed to four hospitals — Quezon Memorial Hospital, with 70 patients; Jane County Hospital, 50; Lucena Medical Mission Group, 18; and St. Anne Hospital in Lucena City, nine persons. Nine others were treated for minor injuries, it was reported.
Reports said the victims were on board a PNR train with four coaches when the train fell off track while running at high speed in barangay Duhat at past 2 a.m. yesterday.
Police authorities who rushed to the area said several passengers were trapped inside the coaches after it turned upside down and fell into a 40-foot ravine.
Residents from the surrounding areas also helped authorities in retrieving survivors from the coaches, reports added.
Troopers of the Southern Luzon Command in Lucena City immediately responded to the accident area to assist local executives led by Padre Burgos Mayor Ding Villena in undertaking rescue operations for the victims.
The NDCC said that the ill-fated trains had 350 passengers on board.
"All responding units in the disaster scene continuously undertake search, rescue and retrieval operations as there are still missing passengers," the NDCC reports said.
Members of the Makati Rescue Team also volunteered to help government authorities in assisting survivors from the accident, it was learned.
Two helicopters from the Philippine Air Force also went to the area to airlift injured victims to nearby hospitals.
Train tragedy
PADRE BURGOS, Quezon – A Philippine National Railway (PNR) passenger train fell off a ravine in Barangay Duhat here killing at least 13 persons, with three others missing, and many injured at around 2:45 a.m. yesterday.
Police and rescue teams identified six of the victims as Janet Bauio, Miguela de Elic, Marietta Rellos, Fe Aspe, Celina Laota and a certain woman identified only as Margarita. Their addresses and ages were not immediately available.
The injured were rushed by responding policemen, military personnel under by Southern Luzon Commander Major General Pedro Cabuay Jr. and Civilian rescuers to Jane County Hospital in Pagbilao and in Quezon Medical Center and MMG Clinic in Lucena City. Three others were listed as missing.
The train, bearing No. 580 marking, came from Albay and was headed to Tayuman Station in Manila. It fell into a ravine 100 meters deep with 312 passengers in its manifest list.
Engr. Noli Tolentino, PNR chief engineer at the Lucena station said the train was overspeeding as it was running at 70 kms. per hour when the speed limit in the area is only 20 kms. per hour.
He said that the PNR railway section from Lucena to Agdangan which covers Padre Burgos was left unconcreted by the renovation made by the PNR owing to lack of funds. (Benjie Antioquia)
13 confirmed dead
PADRE BURGOS, Quezon — Thirteen persons were confirmed dead and over 100 others were injured after a Philippine National Railways (PNR) Train No. 580 jumped off the track and fell into a deep ravine in Barangay Duhat, this town at 2:45 a.m. yesterday.
Philippine Army (PA) soldiers from the Southern Luzon Command (Solcom), headed by Maj. Gen. Pedro R. Cabuay, Jr.; 201st Infantry Brigade under Col. Alfonso L. Bernate, 201st commanding officer; and the Quezon provincial headquarters of the Philippine National Police were immediately dispatched to rescue the passengers and secured the area from looters who might take advantage of the accident.
Quezon military and police officials identified five of the 13 fatalities as Celina Lauta, Miguela de Elic, Fe Aspe, Marrieta Rellos Janet Baguio and a woman identified as Margarita.
Bernate, who immediately conducted a search and rescue operations, said that 37 persons were taken to the Quezon Provincial Medical Center where Lauta and Elic died. Nine others were taken to the MMG Clinic and nine at Camp Nakar Hospital, all in Lucena, and about 200 passengers confined at the Jane County Hospital in Pagbilao town.
Bernate said that Lt. Balisong and his team from 76th Infantry Battalion were tasked to secure the belongings of the passengers who are just waiting to be transported to Manila by PNR rescue team.
Initial investigation disclosed that the PNR Train No. 580 was on its way to Manila from Bicol after leaving at Guinobatan, Albay at around 6 p.m Thursday.
The report said that four of its six coaches fell to the deep ravine after the train jumped off the track. (Jen Jorvina)
Air Force
VILLAMOR AIR FORCE BASE – Philippine Air Force chief Lt. Gen. Jose L. Reyes yesterday dispatched an Air Force rescue contingent to help in the rescue efforts of the derailed PNR train at Barangay Duhat, Padre Burgos in Quezon province.
A total of five helicopters were dispatched to the site where close to 250 of the reported 450 passenger sustained injuries.
Colonel Ricardo Banayat, the on-scene Commander for the PAF rescue efforts confirmed that seven passengers had perished due to the incident.
An unidentified male passenger was located trapped underneath one of the 40-footer coaches that fell in the ravine. He was believed among those calling for help early dawn but could not be reached by rescuers due to the steep gradient of the ravine.
Banayat disclosed that the man later died. PAF paramedics later located the lifeless body and used special hydraulic cutters to free the body from the wreck.
The air assets in the area, which consisted of two Huey UH-1H, two S76 Sikorsky and one Huey 2 helicopters, were used to airlift dozens of injured victims to Lucena City for medical treatment. (Anjo Perez & Louie Perez)
PNR suspended
President Arroyo yesterday ordered the indefinite suspension of the Philippine National Railway operations on the Bicol line from Calamba to Legazpi City,pending the investigation on train disaster that claimed ten lives and injured almost a hundred people.
Amid speculations that damages on the tracks might have caused the crash, the President also directed Transportation and Communication Secretary Leandro Mendoza to make a comprehensive review on the alignment of the railroad lines of the PNR south line to ensure safe operations.
Running 70 kilometers per hour instead of the mandatory 20 kph, five of the train’s eight cars derailed and plunged down a ravine in Barangay Duhat, Padre Burgos, in Quezon. The train was traveling overnight from Naga City in Camarines Sur to Manila.
Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita said the railway operations along the line where the accident occurred will be suspended momentarily "until such time they determine the cause of accident."
"Secretar Mendoza was directed by the President to immediately check the situation, determine the cause of the accident and have a review of the entire railroad track in southern Luzon and find out what can be done," he said in an interview with reporters in Malacanang.
He said normal train operations will resume after the tracks have been fully repaired and guaranteed safe for operations. (GDK)
Pimentel’s reaction
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. yesterday cited the 32.1-kilometer North Rail Project as one of the more worthy projects of the government but invited Malacanang’s attention for the rehabilitation of existing railway lines in the wake of a the Quezon tragedy that has claimed the lives of at least ten persons.
In yesterday’s Friday Balitaan Forum at Hotel Rembrandt, Quezon City, Pimentel said the incident at Padre Burgos, Quezon should serve as a wake up call for the government to act immediately in rehabilitating the existing lines of the Philippine National Railways and in making it safe for the public.
"There is an urgent need for government to look at existing railroads and determine whether these are still safe," the senator said.
The opposition leader noted that while government poured a fortune at implementing the North Rail Project, it has not acted at keeping the PNR tracks safe.
At the behest of Pimentel, the Senate has opened an inquiry into the modern Caloocan-Clark railway system that will funded through $503 million foreign loan, with the bulk coming from China’s Export *Import Bank.
Pimentel questioned the decision of the government to rid the railway of some 20,000 squatter families despite the fact that relocation sites are not ready for occupancy. (BRR)
Mass railways review
Senators called on the government yesterday to immediately conduct a review of the country’s mass railway system, which stretches from Tutuban to Legaspi, as they noted the need to earmark bigger fund for its development, following the train tragedy that occurred in Quezon early morning yesterday.
Senate Majority Leader Francis Pangilinan said it is imperative that the government study ways to improve the system especially since "trains serve as the poor man’s mode of transportation,"
As of noontime yesterday, at least 10 people were reported to have died and 155 others, wounded in the train crash. A hundred more were said to be missing of the estimated 400 passengers boarding it. The train was bound for Manila for Bicol when it slipped out of its tracks and fell off a ravine in Barangay Duhat, Padre Burgos town in Quezon province.
Missing portion of rail bars allegedly heaped the over-speeding train off its tracks amid heavy rains until it fell.
Pangilinan said the Philippine National Railways should be held accountable for the incident for apparent inefficiency in maintaining the railways, and promoting the safety of train passengers.
He, thus, urged the government to consider PNR’s privatization, and determine if such would indeed cure the office’s inefficiency. "Inefficiency (anyway) has caused this national tragedy," the senator added.
Senate Public Services Committee chairman Joker Arroyo said the tragedy reflects the country’s sad financial plight.
He said out of the DOTC’s re-enacted budget for 2004 in the amount of P10 billion, only 1.3 percent or P135 million was allocated as subsidy for PNR’s operation and maintenance of the railways, a figure much lower that the cost of the one-kilometer NRP, estimated at P875 million.
"PP875-million for one kilometer for North Rail Project and a measly P135 million for 600 kilometers for South line? Yet, Bicol, with the exception of Pampanga, gave the biggest majority, percentage wise in relation to population, of GMA over FPJ in all of Luzon. Clark Field and Pangasinan, here we come, beckons the North Rail Project. Halleluiah. Palakasan," the senator said. (Gabriel Mabutas)
Villar extends sympathy
Senator Manny Villar, president of the Nacionalista Party, yesterday extended his sympathy to the families and friends of the casualties of the ill-fated Manila-bound train that fell in a ravine in Quezon.
Villar said the tragedy should prompt the government to rehabilitate and modernize the South Luzon rail line of the Philippine National Railways (PNR) before embarking on the North Rail project.
"By prioritizing the rehabilitation of the South Rail line of PNR, there will be more people who will benefit from it because it runs through the provinces of Regions 4 and 5. As many people know, the residents of the cities and towns in these regions ride the train more frequently. It is the main mode of transport for majority of them," he said.
"We should also look into reports also that the train was derailed because of rampant theft of railroad tracks, rail spikes, and other railway equipment there. There is really an immediate need for the south railway of PNR to be modernized."
Early dawn tragedy
Thirteen persons were killed and more than 100 others were injured at early dawn yesterday when a passenger train heading towards Manila from Legaspi City derailed and plunged into a ravine in Barangay Duhat, Pedros Burgos town, Quezon Province, the Department of Transportation and Communication (DoTC) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) reported.
Transportation Secretary Leandro R. Mendoza, who was tasked by Malacañang to head the search and rescue (SAR) operations at presstime, said that about 120 rescuers from the PNP, including those from the Special Action Force (SAF), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), and the DoTC rushed to the area of accident to haul the victims and take them to nearest hospitals.
The mishap was one of the worst in years, said Mendoza and PNP Chief Director General Edgar B. Aglipay and PNP Chief of Directorial Staff Director Enrique Galang Jr., who coordinated with local government officials to help the victims.
Mendoza said that train, with five passenger coaches, left Legaspi City at about 3:30 p.m. Thursday and figured in the accident at about 2 a.m. yesterday.
At presstime, DoTC and PNP men were still trying to know the identities of the fatalities through their nearest of kins and friends.
Mendoza said that one of the survivors, passenger Edwin Carillo, called up Patrol 117 Dispatcher 2017 asking for immediate rescue and assistance. The train had 312 passengers and nine crew. Coaches Nos. 2 to six fell into a ravine, about 40 feet high in Barangay Duhat, Padre Burgos, Quezon. (Yul Malicse)
