By Glazyl Y. Masculino
BACOLOD CITY – A 53-year-old truck driver sustained injuries after his vehicle, loaded with sacks of rice, crashed into a closed eatery, causing a traffic disruption along the Bata flyover in Barangay Banago on Wednesday morning.
Police identified the driver as Jonathan Pineda of Sagay City, Negros Occidental.
According to Police Major Ramel Sarona, head of the Bacolod Traffic Management Unit (TMU), Pineda was en route to Banago port when he realized that the truck had lost its brakes. In an attempt to prevent further harm, he swerved the truck, which collided with the closed roadside eatery.
Rescue teams took an hour to extricate Pineda, who was trapped inside the truck. He is currently recovering at Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital.
The accident caused several hours of traffic disruption as the truck blocked part of the road.
Sarona noted that traffic enforcers were deployed to manage and assess the situation until the vehicle was cleared in the afternoon.
The truck’s load was transferred to another vehicle to facilitate the removal process, he added.
