11 people killed in Philippine truck crash

Photo shows a fishing community damaged by Typhoon Rai along a shoreline in Leyte Province, the Philippines, Dec. 22, 2021.The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) reported that 156 people died from the typhoon, while the Philippine National Police reported at least 375 deaths. Many more are missing or injured.(Photo: Xinhua)

At least 11 people were killed after a small truck packed with partygoers, including children, overturned in the southern Philippines, police said Thursday. 

The vehicle was traveling to a beachside resort on Mindanao island for a postponed Christmas party on Wednesday when the driver lost control after the brakes apparently failed on a downhill section of the road.

Around 50 people were crammed into the truck, most of them in the open tray, when it veered off the road and into a tree. 

The vehicle then flipped over onto a pile of rocks, Balingasag municipal police chief Major Teodoro De Oro said.

Eleven people were killed, including a three-year-old child, De Oro said, adding police were seeking to confirm another three deaths.

Scores of other passengers were injured, including a dozen children. The driver, who was also hurt and tried to hide after receiving medical treatment, was arrested and will face charges.

The vehicle was part of a convoy of three trucks but the other two were not involved in the accident, the police chief De Oro said. 

Deadly road mishaps are common in the Philippines, where drivers frequently flout the rules and vehicles are often poorly maintained or overloaded. 

In 2019, 19 farmers were killed in an accident happening in the mountainous place in northern Philippines when a truck carrying the farmers and sacks of rice seeds plunged backwards down a deep ravine.