MANILA, Philippines - Three nurses were killed while four others were badly hurt in an accident along the C-5 flyover in Barangay Ugong, Pasig City before dawn yesterday.
A black Mitsubishi Montero Sport (KEX-246), driven by Luis Asistio III, hit a plant box along the flyover’s center island at around 2:15 a.m. The impact caused the sport utility vehicle to turn over and land on a Toyota Innova (AAM-2365) carrying the victims on the opposite lane, traffic investigator Police Officer 3 Cristiano Silayan said.
Rose Ann Azucena Oquendo, 23; Lyn Pascua, 39; and Janine Ray Manzanida were declared dead on arrival at separate hospitals.
Among those injured were Asistio, who was alone in his car; Ryan Lester Yadao, 29, who was driving the Innova; Jacklyn Mae Terrado, 25, who was reported to be in serious condition; and Bules Lapuz, 23.
Silayan said they are checking whether Asistio was drunk at the time of the accident since a bottle of liquor was recovered in his vehicle. According to rescuers, Asistio smelled of liquor when he emerged from his vehicle.
He is currently confined at a hospital for bodily injuries and investigators have yet to get his statement.
Pasig police chief Senior Superintendent Jose Hidalgo Jr. said the three fatalities, as well as Terrado and Lapuz, were on their way home after their shift as nurses at the Salve Regina Hospital when they figured in the accident.
He said Asistio was driving on the C-5 flyover’s southbound lane when he lost control of the steering wheel. The impact of the Montero Sport’s landing ripped off the Innova’s roof, Silayan said.
It took rescuers at least an hour to get the trapped victims out of the Innova.
The accident created a traffic gridlock in the area, which was reopened to vehicles at around 6 a.m., four hours after the accident.
The mishap occurred a few hours after the observance of World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Accidents Sunday.