Sedan nearly falls off bridge; truck rams store

A car nearly fell off the Marcelo Fernan bridge and a 10-wheeler truck rammed a store in two separate road accidents in less than five hours in the cities of Danao and Mandaue yesterday.

The Mandaue bridge accident left a person seriously injured, landing him in the hospital while the Danao City accident left the truck driver and the truck helper slightly injured.

At past 3:30 a.m., James Acusar, 20, was cruising along the Marcelo Fernan bridge in Mandaue City when Acusar claimed that a vehicle suddenly moved in his lane.

Acusar, who was seriously injured and confined at a private hospital, told police that he swerved to the left to avoid hitting the oncoming vehicle.

His Honda Civic slammed into the railings of the bridge destroying the railing made of steel alloy and the front end of his car.

Police said the car bounced on the railings and landed back on the bridge.

Police said if the railings didn’t hold, Acusar would have fallen 100 feet from the bridge and would possibly have been killed.

Police impounded the Honda Civic and issued Acusar a TOP.

Police also said the Department of Public Works and Highways would also file a case against Acusar for the damage done to the bridge railings.

A few hours later in barangay Poblacion, Danao City ,  a 10-wheeler truck lost its brakes while negotiating a curved portion of the road, hit two electric posts and rammed into a sari-sari store.

The truck driver John Gelentagaan, 31, and truck helper Nikki Balucos, 21, of Sagay City, Negros Oriental, miraculously escaped the crash with minor cuts and bruises.

The store owned by Reynante Manipis, 40, was destroyed while the front of the truck was a wreck.

Police investigation showed that Gelentagaan was driving the truck from Bacolod on its way to Naga City in southern Cebu to pick up a delivery of animal feeds for Bacolod when the accident happened.

Gelentagaan told police that he was negotiating the curved portion of the road when he suddenly lost his brakes.

“Pagkakita nako nga sige siya bomba sa brake nya wala gyud mopaak, nipiyong na lang ko dihang ang truck mipaingon sa tindahan(When I saw that the driver kept pumping the brakes and they still didn’t hold, I just closed my eyes when I saw the truck head towards the store),” said Balucos.

Knowing that he had no brakes, Gelentagaan said he swerved left to avoid colliding with a trisikad.

The truck then hit two electric posts before ramming the store.

Balucos easily got out of the truck after the crash and suffered only cuts and bruises while rescuers had to pry out Gelantagaan, who couldn’t get out the damaged truck.

Despite being trapped inside the truck, Gelantagaan escaped with only cuts and bruises in his arm.

No one was inside the store since the owner was taking a bath in his house a few meters away from the store when the accident happened.

Gelentagaan already informed his employer and the owner of the truck, who promised to pay for the damages.

Gelentagaan said he worked for Tri-Star Trucking Co. based in Bacolod.

Police issued a temporary operator’s permit to Gelentagaan.