Boy, 5, killed in PMV mishap

By YVONNE HAIP
A FIVE-year-old boy is dead and his twin brother admitted in the Mt Hagen General Hospital after they were struck down by a bus at the Kamanga Wung betelnut market in Mt Hagen yesterday.
The brothers were with their mother who was selling cooked corn at the market.
The twins were among many others at the market who suffered injuries after the driver of a 15-seater Toyota Hiace bus lost control of his vehicle.
Betelnut sellers at the market and local bystanders said the vehicle, which was travelling into town, had suffered mechanical problems as it was negotiating a turn at the top of a hill before the market.
They said the bus sped out of control down the hill and crashed into vendors and people shopping there.
Hospital accidents and emergency ward staff were seen busy attending to the accident victims during lunch hour.
They said five people, including the dead boy’s brother, had been treated and admitted.
Provincial police commander Kaiglo Ambane confirmed that the accident resulted from the vehicle’s brake failing.
The driver was in police custody.
He could not confirm if there were passengers on board the bus.