ILIGAN CITY (MindaNews / 22 June) – A Mitsubishi Montero fell off a damaged bridge past midnight Wednesday, with two of its four passengers injured, police said.
The Montero sped through this wet damaged steel bridge late in the night. Photo courtesy of Maj. Zandrex Panolong / ICPO
The incident took place at 12:45 a.m. of June 22 at the Merila Bridge connecting Barangays Ubaldo Laya and Tubod, according to Maj. Zandrex Panolong, spokesperson of the Iligan City Police Office.
The Bailey bridge was damaged during a strong flood early last March.
Panolong said their investigation shows that the four were travelling from Iligan’s circumferential diversion road (called locally as the C3 road) in Merila, then turned right where the bridge crosses the Tubod River.
Coming from the C3, the bridge appears normal, then it gradually inclines towards the left as one side of the other end, the one in Barangay Tubod, fell to the river bed.
But the driver – Abdullah G. Rasol, 34, of Bacolod Kalawi in Lanao del Sur – apparently did not know that the other end of the bridge collapsed on March 7, and did not notice the warning sign of a damaged bridge late in the night, police said.
The Montero, bearing plate number KJL 710, sped through the wet steel bridge and upon reaching the broken end, nose-dived and landed front-end first down a concrete slab below. The car was still standing on its head when the police came to investigate.
As a result, two of the passengers, Joharisah Ali and Sittie Iman Sanguan, were brought to the Gregorio T. Lluch Memorial Hospital by the responding rescuers for immediate medical treatment, but they later refused. (Marivic Omandam Davis / MindaNews)
The Montero and the broken bridge as shown from the other side. Photo courtesy of Maj. Zandrex Panolong / ICPO
