Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Vince Dizon ordered the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board to suspend the operations of Solid North Transit Incorporated after one of its buses was involved in a multiple-vehicle collision at a portion of the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway (SCTEX).

In a statement, DOTr  said ten persons, including four children, were killed while 37 others were injured in the car crash at the Tarlac City Toll Plaza in SCTEX.

Police Lt. Col. Romel Santos, chief of the Tarlac Provincial Police Office, said the bus driver has now been taken into custody. He said the bus driver claimed that he had dozed off behind the wheel.

Investigation showed that the bus of Solid North Transit Inc. was the first to hit the van in the queue in the toll plaza, which caused a domino effect.

“Ito pong bus, yung Solid North Transit Inc., ito po yung bumangga sa apat na vehicles na nakahinto na po sa toll plaza ng SCTEX, waiting po doon sa payment nila sa toll booth po nila. And pagdating po nitong Solid North Transit, unang binangga niya ay yung Nissan Urvan. Yung Nissan Urvan naman po binangga niya po yung Kia Sonet. Yung Kia Sonet binangga naman niya yung tractor head. Yung tractor head binangga naman niya yung Toyota Veloz,” said Santos said.

(The bus of Solid North Transit Inc. was the one that hit the four other vehicles that were in the queue in the toll plaza of SCTEX while waiting for their turn in the toll booth. After the bus hit the Nissan Urvan, the latter hit a Kia Sonet. The Kia Sonet eventually hit the tractor head, and the tractor head hit a Toyota Veloz.)

The casualties have been brought to the Tarlac Provincial Hospital.

Among the survivors being treated at the emergency room is a toddler boy, who is believed to be between two to three years old. The boy was crying while looking for his parents, who unfortunately both died in the accident.

Although he’s alive, the driver of the van, from which most of the fatalities came, cannot communicate properly.

According to the hospital management, the IDs they retrieved from most of the fatalities show that they are from Antipolo City.