8 Children Dead, 16 People Hurt in Philippines Truck Crash

8 Children Dead, 16 People Hurt in Philippines Truck Crash
Relatives grieve as they look at one of the victims of a deadly road accident at Boljoon town, Cebu province, central Philippines on July 19, 2019. (AP Photo)

MANILA, Philippines—A truck carrying more than two dozen villagers, mostly ecstatic grade schoolers on their way to a school festival, lost control on July 19 on a downhill road and flipped on its side, leaving eight students and an adult dead in the central Philippines, police said.

Police investigator Nelson Saquibal said 16 others, including the driver, were brought to a hospital after the accident in Boljoon town in Cebu province. The students from two village schools were on their way to attend a cultural, health and sports festival in the town center, he said.

Relatives grieve as they sit beside bodies of victims
Relatives grieve as they sit beside bodies of victims from a deadly road accident at Boljoon town, Cebu province, central Philippines on July 19, 2019. (AP Photo)

Saquibal told The Associated Press by telephone that some of the students were pinned under the truck while others were tossed off the vehicle by the impact and retrieved by residents, police and firefighters. He asked for prayers for the injured and the children who perished.

Men bring down the body of a victim from a deadly road accident
Men bring down the body of a victim from a deadly road accident at Boljoon town, Cebu province, central Philippines on July 19, 2019. (AP Photo)

Deadly road accidents are common in the Philippines because of weak enforcement of traffic laws, rickety vehicles and inadequate road safety railings and signs, especially in the countryside.

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