MANILA: A passenger bus careened off a winding, dirt road and fell into a ravine south of the Philippine capital, killing 19 people and injuring 21 others, police said Wednesday.
The crash occurred Tuesday night in Sablayan town in Occidental Mindoro province as the bus was heading on a downhill stretch of a road that had been under repair. The bus struck a bridge railing before falling into the 15- to 20-foot-deep ravine.
A mechanical problem may have caused the driver to lose control of the vehicle, police investigator Alexis Go told The Associated Press.
Police officer Ian Villanosa said the bus driver was killed and that children were among the injured.
Highway fatalities are alarmingly high in the Philippines due to poor traffic law enforcement, the dilapidated conditions of vehicles, and a lack of safety features like signs and railings, especially in far-flung provinces.
A senator who advocates for traffic safety shared her sympathies to the families of the victims while also expressing rage that such accidents are preventable.
Sen. Grace Poe called for support of a Senate bill that would create a National Transportation Safety Board and other steps such as inspections of public transportation vehicles and strict drivers’ licensing.
She said the crash was a reminder of how dangerous public transportation is in the Philippines. “Sadly, the list of tragic road accidents and their casualties continue to increase because vehicles that are not roadworthy or even those we label as rolling coffins are still allowed to ply the roads with near impunity,” her statement said.
Philippine bus falls into ravine, leaves 19 dead and 21 injured
Philippine bus falls into ravine, leaves 19 dead and 21 injured
171 bodies found in mass graves in eastern Congo, an official says
- Authorities found two mass graves with at least 171 dead bodies in the Kiromoni and Kavimvira
- M23’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment
KINSHASA: Congolese authorities and a civil society group said Thursday that mass graves were found in part of eastern Congo that the M23 rebel group has recently withdrawn from, as fighting in the region escalates despite a US-mediated peace deal.
The governor of South-Kivu province, Jacques Purusi, said authorities found two mass graves with at least 171 dead bodies in the Kiromoni and Kavimvira neighborhoods on the outskirts of the eastern city of Uvira.
“At this stage, we have identified two sites: one mass grave containing approximately 30 bodies in Kiromoni, not far from the Burundian border on the Congolese side, and another in Kavimvira where 141 bodies were found,” Purusi told The Associated Press over the phone.
The Associated Press could not independently verify the claim. M23’s spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Executive Secretariat of the Local Network for the Protection of Civilians, a civil society group in the region, said Thursday it wanted to visit the mass graves but was prevented from doing so by the Congolese military.
Information gathered so far indicates that the victims were killed by M23 rebels, said Yves Ramadhani, the group’s vice president.
The governor and the civil society group alleged that the rebels killed the individuals because they suspected them of belonging to the Congolese army or a pro-government militia.
Both the Congolese military and M23 have been accused of extrajudicial killings and abuses by rights groups.
