A 35-year-old mother who was carrying her one-year-old daughter died when she jumped off a moving bus at about 12:30 pm on Monday along the national highway in Poblacion II in Villanueva.
Responding police brought the victims to the nearest hospital but an hour after the mother succumbed while her daughter had minor injuries.
Police Staff Sgt. Greg Joe Gucor, a traffic investigator, identified the fatality as Esmeralda Calunsag and a resident of Paradise, Binisilan, Cotabato.
The mother was with her four children riding a public utility bus bound for Gingoog City, said Gucor.
The bus was driven by a certain Rey Dacup, 41, married, and a resident of Kibawe in Bukidnon province.
Initial investigation showed that when the bus started to move, the bus driver was about to push the button to close the side door of the bus when Calunsag, carrying her baby, suddenly jump off the door and fell to the road.
A one-year-old girl and her three other siblings are now in the custody of the father.
Gucor said he believed depression is the cause of the incident.
