40 people have been killed after a packed bus plunged into a deep ravine in northern Philippines.
The bus carrying 49 people had just left the mountain resort city of Baguio when its brakes failed, local fire chief Senior Superintendent Richard Villanueva said.
Provincial police chief Wilben Mayor told reporters that 40 people died instantly.
He said nine people were injured, including the conductor who survived by jumping out of the door before the vehicle flew off the cliff.
'The driver tried to ram the bus into a mango tree to prevent it from falling, but failed,' the conductor, John Patrick Flores, who escaped with only bruises, told reporters.
Police Senior Inspector Leo Guay, who led the search and retrieval operations, said the vehicle had come to a rest on its side on shrub-covered ground.
He said the steep slope made it difficult for rescuers to retrieve the bodies from inside the wreckage.
Mr Guay said police were in the process of informing relatives of all the victims, but said no one from the company that owned the bus had so far come forward to help.
Baguio is about 200km north of Manila and is a popular tourist destination because of its rich, tribal culture and cool weather.
Road accidents, often involving old buses and careless drivers, are common in Philippines.
15 people died last month when a bus hit a concrete wall in Cebu, the second biggest city in Philippines.
21 people died a month earlier, also in Cebu, when a bus fell off a cliff.
