A group of 19 Catholic youth leaders were injured, seven of them seriously, after a bus they were traveling in careered off the road and into a gully near the town of Murcia, in Negros Occidental province on Saturday.

"The brakes on the bus were faulty and we fell 10 meters into a gully," said Father Boboy Lopez who was with the group from the Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Cebu City.

The youth leaders and the priest were on their way to Mambukal Resort and Retreat House in Negros Occidental for a two-day leadership training course.

Authorities said the place where the bus left the road is notorious for accidents.

The students were taken to hospital in Bacolod City where they are recovering.