Yesterday’s heavy rain led to an accident inside the South Road Properties (SRP) tunnel, where a Subaru vehicle hit the center island, slammed on a concrete wall and caught fire.
Jose Lorenzo Retuya, 23, a resident of Friendship Village, San Nicolas, Basak, Cebu City lost control of the vehicle because of the slippery road. He got out of his vehicle before it started to burn.
He was headed to the south when the accident happened at 4 a.m yesterday.
“His vehicle dragged toward the left side portion of the tunnel, hit the center island and accidentally hit a concrete wall,” said Jimelon Jimeno, base control operator of the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom).
SPO1 Domenador Ongab, who was investigating the incident, said it was fortunate that the vehicle didn’t explode.
The SRP tunnel was closed for more than three hours because of the accident.
The tunnel was opened to traffic at 7:30 a.m., after the Subaru with plate number JFG-841 was towed.
Jimeno added that Retuya was safe and, though visibly shaken, didn’t need to be taken to the hospital./USJ-R Intern Mayfair dela Cerna