MANILA: A truck carrying animal feed smashed into the rear of a passenger bus on a remote downhill provincial road in the northern Philippines early Saturday, setting off a series of wrecks that left at least 20 people dead and injured 44 others, police said.
The bus driver lost control of his vehicle after the first collision and hit two buses and four vans coming from the opposite direction before toppling over on the narrow downhill road in Quezon province on Luzon island, about 115 kilometers (72 miles) southeast of Manila, Atimonan town police chief Jonar Yupio said. Parts of the bus pinned many of the victims, and others were killed by flying metal debris, including the engine.
All those killed — including four children, the truck driver and his assistant — were in either the truck or the first bus that was hit.
Social workers said a 1-year-old girl was among the survivors. Rescuer Jun Panuil said he found the baby muddied and covered in blood from other victims on the side of the road near the bus. He said the blood had made rescuers suspect the child was seriously hurt, but she had only a few scratches.
Yupio said it was dark and raining when the accident occurred early Saturday morning, shortly past midnight. He said the bus and truck involved in the first collision rolled over before stopping on their sides.
The injured, most of them passengers on the first bus that was hit, were brought to separate hospitals, Yupio said. An investigation has been launched.
Road accidents are common in remote areas in the Philippines, largely because of poor vehicle maintenance and bad road conditions.
20 killed, 44 injured in Philippine road accident
20 killed, 44 injured in Philippine road accident
UK warship to leave for Cyprus next week: officials
- HMS Dragon, a Type 45 defense destroyer, will sail to aid Britain’s “defensive operations”
- Opposition lawmakers have accused the government of being too slow to deploy additional resources
LONDON: A UK warship due to be sent to Cyprus amid the US and Israel’s war with Iran will not set sail from Britain until next week, Western officials said Wednesday.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Tuesday that he was deploying HMS Dragon, a Type 45 defense destroyer to aid Britain’s “defensive operations” in the region.
Starmer also said he was sending two Wildcat helicopters with counter-drone capabilities.
The announcement came after several drone attacks from Iran targeted UK allies in the Middle East and after the UK Royal Air Force base Akrotiri was struck overnight Sunday to Monday.
Opposition lawmakers have accused the government of being too slow to deploy additional resources after the war started on Saturday with no British warship in the region.
The destroyer is being resupplied with ammunition and will sail next week, the officials told reporters in London.
“We’ve had to change weapon systems on it, finish welding, get it up and running, and get it sailing as fast as possible,” Defense Minister Al Carns told Sky News.
Its voyage to the eastern Mediterranean is expected to take several days.
Starmer refused to allow the Americans to use UK air bases to launch the initial strikes on Iran on Saturday.
He later agreed to a US request to use two British military bases — one in southwest England and the other in the Chagos Islands in the Indian Ocean — for a “specific and limited defensive purpose.”
The officials said Wednesday that US bombers have not yet used those bases to launch missions but they are expected to do so in the coming days.
They also said that the drone, which caused little damage and no casualties when it hit the runway at Akrotiri, had not been launched from Iran.
A Cypriot government source said Monday that the drones had been launched from Lebanon, “most likely” by Hezbollah, a historical ally of Iran in the Middle East.
