Published 12:58 IST, December 6th 2023

Philippines: 16 dead, 12 injured as passenger bus falls off ravine

A passenger bus lost control while negotiating a downhill curve in a central Philippine mountain village and plunged into a deep ravine, killing at least 16 people and injuring 12 others, officials said Wednesday.

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A passenger bus falls off ravine in central Philippines. | Image: AP
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A passenger bus lost control while negotiating a downhill curve in a central Philippine mountain vill and plunged into a deep ravine, killing at least 16 people and injuring 12 ors, officials said Wednesday.

Eight of wounded in accident, which happened Tuesday afteron in Hamtic town in province of Antique, were in critical condition at a local hospital, officials said.

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air-conditioned bus, which came from nearby Iloilo province, was maneuvering through accident-prone mountain ro when driver, who was among those killed, lost control. bus smashed onto a concrete railing n fell into ravine, officials said.

“ driver was repeatedly sounding his horn because he h apparently lost control of bus before it plummeted into ravine,” Ronniel Pabustan, an Antique provincial crisis responder, told Associated Press by telephone, citing accounts by some of passengers.

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Dozens of rescuers, including police, army troops and provincial emergency responders, worked to extricate victims from wreck.

y used stretchers and ropes to bring victims up ravine in an hourslong rescue and retrieval work that dragged late into night, Pabustan said.

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“It’s so tragic and painful because this happened close to Christmas,” Pabustan said, ding that among de was a baby, who remained unidentified.

search for victims ended overnight but provincial officials urged vill leers to alert emergency personnel if y find any more victims in site of accident, a thickly wooded area in bottom of ravine.

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Dely ro accidents are common in Philippines because of weak enforcement of traffic laws, dilapidated vehicles and dangerous ro conditions, including inequate safety signs and barriers in mountain ros and far-flung provinces.

12:58 IST, December 6th 2023