(Eagle News) — Six people were killed, while nine others were hurt, when the van they were riding in flipped to its side after a tire blowout along the northbound lane of the North Luzon Expressway around noon Saturday, March 23.
The passengers were on board a Hyundai H100 semi-van when one of its tires blew out, along a portion of the NLEX in Apalit, Pampanga.
The van was carrying 15 passengers.
Five of the passengers were thrown out of the vehicle after the tire-blow-out, killing them on the spot. A sixth passenger also died before reaching the hospital.
The incident happened around 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, at Barangay Tabuyoc in Apalit, Pampanga.
Police said that the driver of the vehicle lost control after one of its tires blew, causing the vehicle to swerve, hitting a six-wheeler Isuzu Elf truck, before flipping to its side
In a tweet, NLEX said that as of 12:49 PM there was traffic build-up at the NLEX viaduct due to the accident which affected the rightmost lane.
As of 3:14 p.m, NLEX declared all lanes were already passable.
The Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office of Apalit said that 13 of the passengers were overseas Filipino workers who were on their way to the Clark International Airport. for their 7 p.m. flight bound for the Middle East.
The identities of the fatalities were not immediately available.
