At least 16 people killed as bus crashed into ravine

Officials said eight of those wounded in Tuesday’s crash, which happened in Hamtic in the Antique province, were in a critical condition. The driver and a baby were among those killed when the bus went through a concrete railing on the mountain road.

The incident took place in Hamtic town (Iloilo City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office – Urban Search and Rescue Unit via AP)

“The driver was repeatedly sounding his horn because he had apparently lost control of the bus before it plummeted into the ravine,” said Ronniel Pabustan, an Antique provincial crisis responder citing accounts by some of the passengers. Dozens of rescuers, including police, army troops and provincial emergency responders, used stretchers and ropes to bring the victims up the ravine. “It’s so tragic and painful because this happened close to Christmas,” he said.

The search for victims ended overnight but provincial officials urged village leaders to alert emergency personnel if they find any more victims at the site of the accident, a thickly wooded area at the bottom of the ravine.