IN BRIEF (Page 8)

THE PHILIPPINES

19 die when truck plunges down ravine

Nineteen farmers were killed in the mountainous northern Philippines when a truck carrying them and sacks of rice seeds plunged backward down a deep ravine, police said on Friday. The victims were on their way home from collecting government-subsidized seeds late on Thursday in the town of Conner when the driver lost control of the vehicle, in the latest tragedy on the country's perilous roads. Either the engine or the brakes failed as the truck made its way up an incline. The vehicle, with some 40 people in its bed, then plunged back down the hill into a 20-meter ravine. The injured survivors will live, police said.