A container van accidentally unlatched from its truck and fell on its side along Anda Circle in the City of Manila on Tuesday.
The accident occurred after the truck swerved to avoid a motorcycle along the busy thoroughfare.
After the container van fell sideways, it hit another container truck causing an day-long heavy traffic.
“Binangga po ako ng motor sa bumper, iniwasan ko po siya para hindi siya pumailalim,” said Edwin Pusag, the truck driver, in Sandra Aguinaldo’s report in 24 Oras on Tuesday.
(A motorcycle hit my bumper, so I tried to avoid him so he would not go underneath the truck.)
“Tumama yung gulong ko sa malaking bato doon kaya nalaglag ‘yung container,” he explained.
(My wheel struck a huge rock which caused the container to fall.)
But the Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau said that the container van could not have separated from the truck if it was properly secured to the vehicle.
“Hindi po kasi nai-lock yung pinaka-pin, may pin po kasi ‘yan, may mga lock. Sa loob po kasi bawal silang, bumaba ang driver, kaya paglabas, dito nila nila-lock ang pin,” said Ronald Allan Zabat, supervisor of Manila Traffic and Parking Bureau.
(The main pin was not locked. Truck drivers are not allowed to lock it inside, so they have to do it outside.)
The bureau said what happened to the container van is the responsibility of the driver which warrants a possible charge of reckless driving.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority sent a crane truck to lift the container van which weighed 24 tons. The MMDA had to send for another crane truck to do the lifting.
The fallen container van was reattached to the truck at 5:56 p.m. —Vince Angelo Ferreras/RF, GMA Integrated News
