20 killed in crash on the way to Christmas mass in Philippines

Twenty pilgrims from the same extended family were killed on Monday in a head-on bus collision while travelling to Christmas Day mass in the northern Philippines, police said.

A jeepney – a small bus – taking the group to a dawn church service crashed into a larger bus in the town of Agoo killing 20 on board, including six children, police said.

The nine other occupants of the small bus were injured, as were 17 travelling on the bigger bus, according to an updated tally released by regional police.

“They were trying to catch a mass in Manaoag,” said Agoo police officer Vanessa Abubo, referring to a northern Philippine town near Agoo with a famous Catholic Church.

The centuries-old Our Lady of Manaoag church is a popular pilgrimage site in the mainly Catholic nation, featuring an icon of the Virgin Mary which the faithful say performs miracles.