Philippine officials say at least 24 people have died after a passenger bus carrying about 45 people fell into a deep ravine in a northern mountain town in one of the deadliest vehicle accidents in the country in recent years.

Disaster-response officer Mark Raymond Cano tells The Associated Press that the brakes of the bus apparently failed as it negotiated a downhill road in Nueva Ecija province’s Carranglan town.

Mr. Cano says the rest of the passengers were retrieved by rescuers and taken to a hospital mostly with serious injuries.