15 hurt in truck-van collision on C5 Road

ACCIDENT AFTERMATH A crew from the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, aided by barangay and city hall personnel, clean up the site of an accident on C5 Road in Quezon City on Wednesday morning that left 15 people injured. —Niño Jesus Orbeta

MANILA, Philippines — A total of 15 people suffered injuries when a dump truck full of sand collided with a van at the intersection of Eulogio S. Rodriguez Jr. Avenue (part of C5 Road) and Eastwood Avenue in Libis, Quezon City, early on Wednesday morning.

The accident took over two of the four lanes on the northbound side of Rodriguez Avenue, resulting in heavy traffic flow that reached as far as SM Aura in Taguig City, according to the Metrobase traffic monitoring center of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA).

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Traffic camera footage of the incident released by the MMDA showed that around 4:30 a.m., the truck was running on the inner lane of the southbound side of the avenue when a motorcycle beside it tried to overtake it at the intersection. The truck driver made a sudden left turn to avoid the motorcycle but hit the oncoming L300 van in the opposite lane.

The truck then continued to push the van forward, pinning it, until the larger vehicle fell on its side and spilled sand on the road.

Difficult rescue

While some of the van passengers managed to get out of the vehicle on their own, others found themselves pinned down and had to be rescued by emergency responders from the Quezon City fire bureau. All 15 victims, including the van driver, were taken for treatment to Quirino Memorial Medical Center for injuries that included fractures and bruises.

With MMDA traffic personnel directing vehicular traffic that had built up in the area, a tow truck pulled away the dump truck from the site while workers from the MMDA, barangay, and Quezon City Hall worked together to load the scattered sand onto another truck. The cleanup operation at the accident site was completed around 11:30 a.m.

The truck carrying sand had come from Rodriguez, Rizal, and was headed for Sta. Rosa City, Laguna, while the L300 van was carrying night shift workers from Ortigas Center to Marikina City.