10 killed, 10 hurt as truck falls into ravine in Benguet

Ten people were killed and 10 others hurt after a utility vehicle fell into an 80-meter-deep  ravine in Benguet province Saturday afternoon, a police report said.

In a text message to reporters, Supt. Davy Vicente Lim-mong, spokesman for the Cordillera regional police, cited sketchy initial report saying the accident happened in Barangay Bayoyo, Buguias town, where a Ford Fiera (AAD 874) heading towards Barangay Abatan, also in Buguias fell into a ravine at about 2:30 p.m. 

Buguias police responded and rescued 20 passengers, Lim-mong said, adding 10 were declared dead at a hospital and 10 were undergoing emergency treatment at the Abatan Emergency Hospital and Lutheran Hospital.

Meanwhile, a Bombo Radyo report said the victims were on their way home from a party given by Mayor Melchor Diclas.

Most of the injured were in critical condition and were brought to the Benguet General Hospital in La Trinidad, Benguet, the report said.

Authorities are still trying to verify the identities of the fatalities and the injured, it added.

Benguet Governor Nestor Fongwan was quoted in the report as saying the victims were on their way home to Mankayan town, and that investigators are getting information on the circumstances leading to the accident. — LBG, GMA News