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| Despite safety concerns, many Filipinos with limited financial means ride on cargo trucks because they are typically offered for free |
Conner, PHILIPPINES
Nineteen farmers were killed and several
others injured in the mountainous northern Philippines when the truck they were
in plunged backwards down a deep ravine, police said on Friday.
The
victims were on their way home from collecting government-subsidised seeds late
on Thursday in the town of Conner, Apayao province when the driver lost control
of the vehicle in the latest tragedy on the country's perilous roads.
Either
the engine or brakes failed as the truck made its way up an incline. The
vehicle, with some 40 people on board, as well as the supplies of rice seeds,
then plunged back down the hill into a 20-metre (65-foot) ravine.
"The truck fell on its rear first and the
passengers were crushed," local police official Manuel Canipas told AFP
news agency.
He added
that at least 20 other passengers sustained injuries, but were expected to
survive. According to news reports, the truck driver was among those who survived.
Canipas said
the weight of the seeds may have made the crash worse, potentially crushing
some of the victims.
Deadly road
accidents are common in the Philippines, where inadequately maintained buses
and poorly-trained drivers form the backbone of land transport options.
Twenty
people, including children, were killed in September in the southern Philippine
town of T'boli when a truck carrying a group home from a party at the beach crashed.
In many
parts of the Philippine archipelago, cargo trucks also serve as passenger
vehicles because there is little in the way of public transport.
Despite
safety concerns, many people with limited financial means use the trucks
because the journey is usually free.
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