20 dead in bus crash on way to Christmas mass

TWENTY PILGRIMS from the same extended family were killed Monday in a head-on bus collision while traveling to Christmas Day mass in the northern Philippines, police said. A small bus taking the group to a dawn church service crashed into a larger bus in the town of Agoo killing 20 on board, including six children. The nine other occupants of the small bus were injured, as were 17 traveling on the bigger bus, according to an updated tally by regional police as of Monday afternoon, Dec. 25. “They (the family) were trying to catch a mass in Manaoag,” Agoo police officer Vanessa Abubo told AFP, referring to a northern Philippine town near Agoo with a famous Catholic church. Agoo police chief Roy Villanueva told Manila radio station DZMM that the smaller vehicle had left its lane to overtake a third vehicle. Authorities are investigating whether the driver, who Ms. Abubo said was among those killed, had fallen asleep or was under the influence, Mr. Villanueva added. — AFP