A truck driver lost control of his 22-wheeler on Thursday, loaded heavily with structural iron channel bars, as he negotiated the winding road leading down Batasan Hills in Quezon City to the town of San Mateo, Rizal, crashing his vehicle unto a light van and a motorcycle, and causing at least five deaths in an ugly spill that closed the road completely.
Seven other persons were injured as the truck plowed into a Toyota Avanza and the motorcycle, smashing itself against roadside establishments and upending its cargo of iron construction bars.
On motorcycle rider was unfortunate enough to get crushed underneath the truck’s wreckage.
The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals, including Malvar General Hospital, East Avenue Medical Center, and Saint Mathews in San Mateo.
The driver said he and his cargo had come from Manila Port Area and were headed to San Mateo to deliver bridge building structural iron beams when he lost control of the brakes on the rolling road that winds down toward Marikina Valley.
Traffic flow had been blocked, as a result, from IBP Road and the congestion had backed up all the way to Commonwealth Avenue.