7 hurt in collision of MRT maintenance service vehicles

Two workers in ICU

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 3:21 p.m.) — At least seven employees of Metro Rail Transit-3 sustained injuries after its maintenance service vehicles collided early Wednesday.

In a statement, the Department of Transportation said the collision occurred between Buendia and Guadalupe Stations at around 3 a.m.

The two Unimogs—a type of maintenance service vehicle—collided while routine overheard catenary system and tracks maintenance were being conducted.

The collision injured seven maintenance and security personnel. They were brought to the VRP Medical Center for treatment.

As of 1:20 p.m., the DOTr released an update on the status of injured MRT employees.

Six of them remained in the hospital while one of them, Ramil Malibiran, who incurred trauma on the right knee, was already discharged at around 11 a.m.

Here are the updates on the injured personnel:

• Joseph Cyril Ursua - incurred laceration; underwent CT scan and suturing of head laceration
• Rogelio Piamonte - incurred fracture at right shoulder and pelvic; now on foley catheter and undergoing blood transfusion. He was transferred to the Intensive care unit.
• Rengie Velarde - incurred nasal laceration; had suturing of nasal laceration at 9:30 a.m.
• Alex Lomigo - incurred trauma at the back; underwent x-ray. He is still at the emergency room.
• Randy Bolilan - incurred head injury; underwent CT scan and suturing of head laceration
• Eric Anthony Cabbab - incurred head trauma and fracture of left ar; zygometric fracture at cheekbone; underwent CT scan at 6 a.m. as well as x-ray of left humerus. He is on foley catheter and also transferred to the ICU.

Most of the victims were brought to the hospital at around 4:30 a.m.

Train operations affected Wednesday AM

The accident also affected the early morning operations as train insertions were delayed.

The operations resumed at around 6:08 a.m. with eight trains inserted.

DOTr in cooperation with the Land Transport Franchising and Regulatory Board, Metro Manila Development Authority, Highway Patrol Group and the Land Transportation Office then serviced the affected passengers by adding buses in the areas.

Normal operations with 15 trains inserted were restored by 7:30 a.m.

DOTR has reached out to families of injured

The DOTr apologized to the public for the inconvenience brought by the accident.

It said it already reached out to the families of the employees that sustained injuries and vowed to shoulder their medical expenses. It added that they notified the families before issuing a statement.

“Again, we apologize for the inconvenience. We will issue additional statements on the condition of our injured personnel and the cause of the accident as our ongoing investigation progresses,” DOTr said.

As of this post, 15 trains are in service. —Rosette Adel