Manila: Twenty people, including children, were killed Tuesday in the southern Philippines when the flatbed truck they were riding in plummeted into a ravine, police said.
The passengers were returning from a beach picnic. However, the driver lost control of the vehicle near the town of T’boli and plunged into the ravine.
“Based on eyewitness accounts, the truck lost its brakes. We will conduct further investigations on the actual cause,” T’boli town police investigator George Tabayan told this agency.
Police initially put the death toll at 15, but doctors said five of the 19 people taken to hospital for treatment later died. The dead included children aged between one to six years old, with the driver among those injured, added the police official.
The group had come from a swimming party at a beach in a neighbouring town and was on their way home when the accident occurred.
Deadly road accidents are common in the Philippines, where inadequately maintained buses and poorly trained drivers form the backbone of land transport options.
In June, 13 people including a bride-to-be were killed when the truck they were riding on after attending a traditional pre-wedding ceremony rolled over on a mountain road.
AFP