18-vehicle smashup at Coastal Road

An accident involving 18 vehicles injured four people and caused heavy traffic along Coastal Road in Parañaque City early morning yesterday.

Police Officer 2 Jose Adducul, officer-on-case, said it all happened at around 4:45 a.m. when an overspeeding 10-wheeler truck rammed into several vehicles, resulting in a smashup involving least 18 vehicles.

The accident caused a monstrous traffic jam on both the northbound and southbound lanes of the tollway.

Truck driver Jellie Palma, 47, claimed he lost his brakes as he was transporting 350 sacks of sugar.

However, a witness alleged that Palma appeared to be racing with another truck. Another witness, a taxi driver, said Palma’s truck appeared to be trying to beat a red light.

Palma and his assistant, Jacinto Rodenta, came from Nasugbu, Batangas, where they picked up the cargo of sugar for delivery to San Fernando, Pampanga.

At least four persons were injured in the MIA Road mishap, including three-year-old Nicole Madera. Her mother Cecilia’s green Isuzu Crosswind was among the vehicles damaged.

Police identified the other wounded as Ricardo Yupangco, Dorothy Mendoza and 12-year-old Daryl Calaliman. They were brought to the nearby San Juan De Dios Hospital for treatment.

Police said Palma’s truck hit Madera’s Crosswind, which in turn hit a van and then crashed into another van, starting a chain reaction of high speed collisions.

So great was the truck’s impact that it left a crater at the site where it eventually stopped. The vehicles hit by the truck included a minibus, a bus, and passenger jeepneys.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority sent tow trucks to clear the road.