A SCHOOL principal and five teachers were killed and 49 others were injured when a tourist bus rammed a tree in Batangas on Friday morning.

Batangas police information officer Inspector Mary Anne Torres said the victims are all from the Doña Justa Guido Elementary School in Angono town in Rizal.

The fatalities were identified as school principal Grace Replan and teachers Zenaida Bautista, Sabeniano Virgina, Karina Untalan, Evangeline Sibal, and Christina Cariman.

Torres said the injured were taken to the San Jose District Hospital in San Jose, Batangas; and Lipa Medix and Mary Mediatrix Medical Center in Lipa City.

Torres said the incident took place around 8:30 a.m. in Barangay San Sebastian, Mataas Na Kahoy town.

She said the victims were aboard a bus of the Shercon Resort when their vehicle slipped in an open canal and rammed a tree in the process.

The victims were on the way to the Shercon Resort, located in Barangay Sebastian, when the incident occurred.

The injured included the bus driver, identified as Christopher Plando. (VR/Sunnex)