LRT-2 limits trips as street dweller climbs post

MANILA, Philippines — A man said to be a street dweller climbed up a post of the Light Rail Transit Line 2 yesterday, forcing the LRT-2 to limit train trips and close some stations for over two hours.

LRT-2 personnel spotted the man “on Track 2 in between the concrete plinth at interstation of Legarda and Pureza station near Nagtahan Bridge” at 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 16, according to a report released by Hernando Cabrera, administrator of the Light Rail Transit Authority (LRTA), which runs the rail line.

A driver applied the brakes as the train rounded a sharp curve where the man was last seen. A pair of slippers was recovered under the train.

The man was not found in the area, but he was seen again “on the column of the carriageway” between Pureza and Legarda stations at 4:20 a.m.

The situation forced the LRTA to limit train journeys starting 4:59 a.m. between Antipolo and V. Mapa stations, while the Pureza, Legarda and Recto stations in Manila were off-limits to passengers.

Videos shared on social media showed commuters, mostly students, waiting to catch rides on public utility vehicles along Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard.

At 6:55 a.m., police officers managed to remove the man from the column by using a crane from the Bureau of Fire Protection, according to photos shared by Cabrera.

The LRTA restored the LRT-2’s full-line operations or train trips from Antipolo to Recto stations at 7:08 a.m.