Bridge connecting Batangas and Quezon collapses

DOST-PAGASA/INQUIRER.net

LUCENA CITY — Bantilan bridge, the concrete span connecting the provinces of Batangas and Quezon, collapsed at around 6 p.m. Saturday, local officials said.

The bridge, measuring 30 meters long, is located between Barangay Tipas in San Juan town of Batangas, and Barangay Bantilan in Sariaya town of Quezon.

Quezon Gov. Angelina Tan posted the information on the bridge’s collapse on her Facebook page at around 8 p.m. and advised motorists to look for alternative routes.

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The governor did not provide details except to say that authorities have yet to confirm if there were casualties in the incident.

The local government of San Juan also reported on its Facebook page the collapse of the bridge, saying it was “due to raging river currents and floods.”

Citing information from residents near the bridge, local journalist Ronilo Dagos, a resident of San Juan town, said in a chat message to the Inquirer that the entire bridge collapsed after its foundations at both ends of the structure were weakened by the raging flood waters.

/MUF