11 dead, 6 hurt in northern Philippines road crash

MANILA: A passenger bus collided with a pickup truck along a highway in Cagayan province in the northern Philippines early Thursday, killing at least 11 people and injuring six others, police said.

Police Major Antonio Palattao, the police chief of Abulug town, in which the accident occurred, told a radio interview that the bus was travelling south when it crashed into the truck that entered the junction of the main highway, reports Xinhua news agency.

Palattao said that the impact of the crash dragged the truck "more or less 20 metres," throwing off its passengers into the road.

Rescue workers retrieved the bodies of 11 truck passengers. They were taken to a local hospital, where they were pronounced dead, he informed.

He said the truck's driver was "seriously" injured, while a pedestrian, two truck passengers, the bus driver and his assistant sustained minor injuries.

He also said that a follow-up probe on the incident is going on.