COTABATO CITY – A hauler truck carrying at least 50 wedding guests plunged into a 20-foot ravine early Tuesday night in Makilala town, North Cotabato while en route to Digos City to attend the wedding rites of their relative, local police authorities said Wednesday.

North Cotabato Gov. Jesus Sacdalan, citing initial police report from the Makilala Philippine National Police (PNP), said about 50 persons were on board the vehicle which was heading for Digos City to attend the wedding of their relative when the freak accident occurred at 6 p.m. on Tuesday in Barangay Bulatukan, Makilala.

Rescuers who rushed to the area rescued the victims and brought them to the nearby hospitals in Bansalan, Davao del Sur for treatment of wounds they sustained as a result of the incident.

Sacdalan said police has yet to determine if there were passengers that have been killed as a result of the incident.

“We have no definite number of casualties, there may be deaths,” he said, adding that police investigators are still investigating the incident.

Initial investigation showed that the Isuzu forward vehicle with plate number GFF-434 lost its brake system while it was negotiating a downhill sharp curve in Barangay Bulatukan.

“We were moving at 50 kilometers per hour when the brake system malfunctioned,” an injured passenger told investigators at his hospital bed.

The governor failed to identify the wounded victims but said they were all from Tantangan in South Cotabato.