17 killed in Philippine road crash

At least 17 people were killed in the southern Philippines on Monday after a collision between a dump truck loaded with sand and a passenger van, local authorities said.

The incident happened in the afternoon on a major road in Antipas municipality in North Cotabato province on the second-largest island of Mindanao.

The 17 dead were the driver and passengers of the van, police Captain Godofredo Tupaz told AFP. Earlier, the death toll was 13.

Among the fatalities was a six-year-old child, who died in hospital, Tupaz said.

Another passenger is being treated for injuries.

The driver of the dump truck and his two passengers survived, Tupaz said, adding that the driver was in police custody.

Witnesses reported that the brakes of the truck appeared to fail before the collision happened, disaster official Mic Garfin told AFP.

Garfin said the van caught fire, possibly because of the impact of the crash.

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