By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
MANILA (Worthy News) – The Philippines, already reeling from deadly earthquakes, saw more suffering Wednesday as 17 people died when a passenger bus careered off a road and plunged down a central mountain, officials said.
The bus was carrying dozens of people when its brakes failed in the central province of Antique on Tuesday afternoon, the local governor, Rhodora Cadiao, told reporters.
Cadiao said the bus was traveling to Culasi in Antique from the neighboring province of Iloilo when its brakes malfunctioned on a winding road, and it plunged 30 meters (98.5 feet) into the ravine.
The bus drove on an “accident-prone” section of road in the Hamtic municipality of Antique province when the crash happened, added Roderick Train, head of the provincial disaster agency.
Seven people were reportedly in critical condition in the hospital, and four others were stable. “This is a mountain road, so the bus fell from a high place. That’s why the impact caused many casualties,” Train said.
“We call that area the killer curve. It was already the second bus that fell off there,” Cadiao added in an interview with DZRH radio station.
Rescue operations at the site have stopped after all visible bodies were retrieved, the Antique government said.
The crash underscored broader concerns about deadly road accidents in the Philippines, where drivers frequently flout the rules and vehicles are often poorly maintained or overloaded.
It came after the Philippines was already dealing with the aftermath of several earthquakes that killed at least three people and injured several more. The tragedies prompted Christians in the heavily Catholic nation to urge for prayers.
Copyright 1999-2025 Worthy News. This article was originally published on Worthy News and was reproduced with permission.
Latest News from Worthy News
China is preparing to evacuate 400,000 people as Super Typhoon Ragasa barrels toward its southeastern coast, after slamming the Philippines and Taiwan with destructive winds, torrential rains, and life-threatening storm surges.
The row over Bagram Air Base has escalated sharply, with U.S. President Donald Trump warning of “bad things” if the site is not returned to American control and Taliban leaders vowing to resist any attempt to reclaim it.
Three Russian military jets violated NATO military alliance member Estonia’s airspace for 12 minutes on Friday in an “unprecedentedly brazen” incursion, its government said, prompting Italian F-35 stealth fighters to respond.
he United Nations Security Council is facing sharp criticism after scheduling a meeting on the Gaza war for Tuesday afternoon–directly overlapping with the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has introduced new global health regulations that critics warn will lead to more global surveillance.
U.S. President Donald J. Trump took on the role of consoler-in-chief Sunday as he honored slain Christian conservative activist Charlie Kirk before tens of thousands gathered at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.
Police in Pakistan have launched an investigation into a “brutal and cowardly” assassination attempt on a prominent Pentecostal pastor in Islamabad, the capital, at a time of rising persecution of Christians in the Muslim-majority nation, sources told Worthy News on Monday.