On January 6, 1967, two Catholic pilgrimage buses collided on a mountainous road near a reinforced timber bridge in the rural town of Indang, Cavite, Philippines.

[2] Along the road was a timber bridge with steel reinforcements connecting then-barrio Italaro (now a sitio of Kayquit III) in Indang[3] to the adjacent town of Mendez, both of which are separated by a river in the barrio's south.

[7] According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the worst road disaster prior to this incident took place in India five years earlier.

[8] The buses involved were owned by Batangas Laguna Tayabas Bus Company (BLTB Co.) and were part of a convoy consisting of 57 buses[7] that were carrying devotees from the towns of Nasugbu, Tuy, and Lian in Batangas to a church dedicated to the Santo Niño in the coastal town of Ternate, Cavite, to celebrate the annual feast of Epiphany.

Among the injured, 48, including two bus conductors, were reportedly taken to various medical facilities in Cavite, while seven were transferred to the Philippine General Hospital in Manila.

Ambulances were slowed down by mountainous roads, while Philippine Air Force and United States Navy helicopters that were dispatched from Naval Station Sangley Point in Cavite City arrived after nearly six hours when rescue operations were almost finished.

[citation needed] On January 8, 1967, President Marcos, upon learning initial reports that the crash was due to either drivers' negligence or the buses' defective brakes, ordered the Public Service Commission to cancel the franchise of BLTB Co. if found liable, otherwise, to take other disciplinary actions against the company.

[11] On January 11, Pope Paul VI extended his condolences and gave his paternal blessing to the families and relatives of the victims through a cable released by Archbishop Carlo Martini, the apostolic nuncio to the Philippines, to the press.