By Calvin Cordova
CEBU CITY — Traffic snarled for hours at the Marcelo Fernan Bridge in Mandaue City following an 11-vehicle smashup Monday morning.
(photo from Mandaue City PIO)
No one was hurt during the incident but the accident, which happened around 11 a.m., caused heavy traffic in the area, said Glenn Antigua, operations chief of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue (TEAM).
Antigua said a prime mover heading toward Mandaue City lost its brake while driving downhill approaching the foot of the bridge.
The prime mover hit the vehicle in front. The impact created a domino effect.
TEAM failed to immediately give the name of the driver of the prime mover.
One of the vehicles that was rear-ended was thrown off the opposite lane and collided with an aluminum van.
“The accident created heavy traffic because both sides of the bridge were reduced to one lane. The bridge became impassable for big vehicles,” said Antigua.
Aside from the prime mover, which was carrying a 20-footer container van, also involved in the smash-up were two taxis, a fuel tanker, a Toyota Vios, a Honda Civic, a Toyota RAV4, an Isuzu D-Max, a Suzuki Celerio, and a Toyota Innova.
Antigua said there were children aboard the Innova. The children were rushed to a hospital after they were traumatized by the accident.
As of noon, seven vehicles were already pulled out from the area.