10 killed as bus rams vehicles at Philippine toll gate

In this handout photo provided by the Philippine Red Cross, rescuers check the site of a multiple-vehicle collision after a speeding passenger bus slammed into a row of vehicles lined up at a highway toll booth killing about a dozen people in Tarlac city, north of Manila, Philippines on Thursday May 1, 2025. (Philippine Red Cross via AP)

Ten people were killed and another 37 injured when a bus ploughed into vehicles waiting at a toll gate in the northern Philippines on Thursday, police said.

The bus set off a chain reaction involving multiple stopped vehicles after first slamming into a sports utility vehicle, authorities said.

Police told AFP the driver of the bus had admitted falling asleep at the wheel before the crash near Luzon island’s Tarlac City.

“Per the initial interview by our investigators ... the driver said he fell asleep and was woken up to the scene of crashed vehicles,” said Colonel Romel Santos of the Tarlac City police.

Four minors were among those killed in the accident, he said.

The crash happened as freeways were filled with families heading to and from Labour Day holidays.

Both the driver and conductor had been taken into custody, Santos said, with the former facing a potential charge of “reckless imprudence resulting in multiple homicides”.

Investigators were still waiting at a local hospital for relatives to identify the victims taken there, he said.

The extent of injuries suffered by survivors was not yet known.

Deadly road accidents are common in the Philippines, where drivers frequently flout the rules and vehicles are often poorly maintained or overloaded.