Bus plunges into ravine in northern Philippines, killing 35 people; 8 survive, including boy

Bus crash in Philippines kills 35, but 8 survive

MANILA, Philippines — A packed passenger bus negotiating a downhill curve plunged off a Philippine mountain highway into a 100-foot (30-meter) ravine Wednesday, killing 35 people in one of the country’s worst recent accidents, police said.

About eight other passengers, including a 10-year-old boy, were pulled alive from the twisted wreckage, said police chief Wilben Mayor of Benguet province north of Manila.

Mayor said most of the victims were pinned to death while others were thrown out as the bus tumbled down.

Rescue workers were trying to revive some of the people but it was unclear if they were successful. The victims’ remains, including a toddler’s, were put in body bags on the highway.

The bus was carrying 47 people from the northern mountain city of Baguio when it crashed in Sablan township, about eight miles (12 kilometers) away. The driver survived with a broken leg.

Conductor John Patrick Flores told The Associated Press by telephone that the brakes on the bus failed as the driver was negotiating a downhill curve.

He said the driver was aiming to hit a lamp post to stop the bus from falling but missed and it jumped over a foot (30 centimeters) -high road barrier.

“I jumped off the bus to the side of the road before the bus plunged into the ravine,” Flores said. He suffered only minor bruises.

He said he was the first person to reach the bus and carried the 10-year-old boy with a broken leg up the ravine. Later, local residents helped rescue other passengers, six of whom were brought to hospital in Baguio.

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. The weather was fine and the highway is in good condition.

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.