Philippines bus ravine crash kills 41

A bus plunged off a Philippine mountain road into a 100ft ravine today, killing 41 people.

Nine other passengers, including a 10-year-old boy, were pulled alive from the wreckage in Benguet province, north of Manila.

Four victims were members of a Filipino-American family who were on their way back to the US after visiting relatives.

The conductor, John Patrick Flores, who survived, said the brakes failed on a downhill bend. The driver tried to hit a lamp post to stop the bus from falling.

"I jumped off the bus to the side of the road before the bus plunged into the ravine," said Mr Flores. He was the first person to reach the bus after it crashed and carried the boy, who had a broken leg, back up the ravine.

Accidents in the area are common because of poorly maintained vehicles.

Last month, 15 people died when their bus slammed into a concrete barrier in the central Philippines. A month earlier, a bus rented by Iranian medical students fell into a ravine near central Cebu city, killing 21 people.