3 dead, 18 hurt in NLEX road accident

SAN FERNANDO, Philippines – At least three people were killed and 18 others were hurt when a bus hit the rear of a trailer truck along the Bocaue-Sta. Rita stretch of the North Luzon Expressway (NLEx) in Bulacan on Saturday.

The Traffic Management Center (TMC) of the Manila North Tollways Corp., the expressway’s operator, said Candida Bondoc, 20, and Jenoshiva Medina, 32, died instantly when the bus they were riding in smashed into the truck at 1:19 p.m.

The third victim, a woman between 40 and 50 years old, died at the Bulacan Polymedic Hospital in Guiguinto town.

A TMC report said the driver of the trailer truck parked the vehicle on the expressway’s northbound shoulder. It was when the driver maneuvered the bus and entered the expressway’s Lane 3 when its rear was hit by the Saulog bus bound for Central and Northern Luzon.

The truck driver was among those hurt and taken to a hospital in Bulacan.

TMC said the accident slowed down vehicle flow in that section of the NLEX, with the traffic jam stretching about 2 kilometers from the accident site as of 5:14 p.m. Saturday.