At least six persons were hurt, including a television reporter for ABS-CBN, following a collision involving five vehicles and a motorcycle along the northbound lane underpass of Epifanio de los Santos Avenue near Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City Thursday afternoon.
The incident happened around 1:45 p.m. and caused heavy traffic on both lanes of Edsa for at least four hours, according to the Metro Manila Development Authority.
ABS-CBN reporter Doris Bigornia and one of her news crew, Marcopolo Gutierrez, were hurt on board their vehicle on their way to cover an event in Cubao, Quezon City. They were rushed to the Medical City in Pasig City.
Most of the victims sustained minor head and body injuries.
The vehicles involved were two Mitsubishi Montero sport-utility vehicles, a Toyota Vios under Grab Express, a Mitsubishi Mirage, a motorcycle, and the ABS-CBN pick-up truck.
MMDA supervising officer for operation Edison Nebrija Jr. said the collisions led to heavy traffic on both lanes of Edsa and on the northbound lane of South Superhighway.
“The traffic situation on the southbound is from Kamuning Street [Quezon City] while the northbound traffic is all the way to Ayala Avenue [Makati City],” Nebrija said.
According to Nebrija, the collisions happened after one of the SUVs went on a sudden unintended acceleration — a situation previously reported by Montero owners.
“Talagang biglang bumilis, iyun ang sinasabi ng driver [It really sped up suddenly, that’s what the driver said],” the MMDA official said.
The MMDA, in coordination with the Eastern Police District – Traffic Management Office, will investigate the incident further.
The agency had just conducted a forum on road safety in a bid to stop the increasing numbers of road accidents in the metropolis.
It urged motorists to observe discipline and courtesy while driving to prevent road accidents.
Based on the MMDA’s latest Road Crash Statistics Report, 52,872 road accidents were recorded in the National Capital Region during the first half of the year—an average of about 293 accidents a day.
Of this number listed from January to June, 214 were described as fatal, 7,670 non-fatal, and 44,988 resulted in damage to properties.