24 passengers dead in Philippines after bus plunges into 80-feet ravine

At least 24 passengers of a bus were killed in an accident in the Philippines on Tuesday (18 April). The bus reportedly lost its brakes and fell into an 80-feet deep ravine in Nueva Ecija province's Carranglan town in northern Philippines.

Disaster-response officer Mark Raymond Cano told Associated Press that many passengers were severely injured in the accident, but they managed to rescue all the survivors.

Carranglan police chief Robert de Guzman told the news agency that the bus was en route to Ilocos Sur, a tobacco- and rice-growing region, from northern Isabela province in Luzon Island. The crash reportedly took place around noon local time.

Carranglan Mayor Mary Abad confirmed the casualty figure in a radio interview and added that the victims included a child and the bus driver, according to Philippines Star. The publication added that traffic on the route was affected due to the ongoing rescue operation.

GMA News Network put the death toll at 26 and said that 22 injured passengers were taken to a hospital in Bambang, Nueva Vizcaya. It quoted Michael Calma of the Nueva Ecija Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office as telling the local radio station that among those killed 18 were women, seven were men and one was a child.

Meanwhile, Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) spokesperson and board member Aileen Lizada said that they had sent a team to the accident site to investigate the case.