Packed Bus Plunges Off Philippines Road

Forty passengers on board a bus in the Philippines were killed when the vehicle veered off a mountain road and into a 100ft ravine.

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2:10pm UK, Wednesday August 18, 2010

Tom Bonnett, Sky News Online
Forty passengers on board a bus in the Philippines were killed when the vehicle veered off a mountain road and into a 100ft ravine.

Incredibly, 10 people - including a 10-year-old boy - survived the crash in the northern city of Baguio.

Police chief Wilben Mayor said the victims were either crushed to death or thrown out of the bus as it tumbled down the verge.

The actions of the driver, who survived with a broken leg, will be investigated, Mr Mayor added.

The bus' conductor, John Patrick Flores, said the brakes failed as the driver was negotiating a downhill curve.

He was aiming to hit a lamppost to stop the packed vehicle from falling but missed it, according to Mr Flores, who suffered only minor bruises.

It flew through a small wall at the edge of the tarmac and zoomed between trees and a house, before falling down the mountain side.

Mr Flores said: "I jumped off the bus to the side of the road before the bus plunged into the ravine."
The conductor added he was the first person to reach the bus and carried the 10-year-old boy with a broken leg bakc up the ravine.

Local residents helped rescue other passengers, six of whom were taken to hospital in Baguio.

The bus crashed in the Sablan township, about eight miles after starting its journey.

Mr Flores said the bus was not speeding as it had just dropped off a passenger and picked up another a short distance away from where the vehicle plunged.

Accidents in the area are common because of poorly maintained vehicles.

Last month, 15 people died when their bus slammed into a concrete barrier in the central Philippines.

A month earlier, a bus rented by Iranian medical students fell into a ravine near central Cebu city, killing 21 people.

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