CEBU CITY, Philippines — A bus driver and his passengers were lucky to have been left unharmed when landslide happened along the national highway in Oslob, Cebu early on Saturday morning, July 9.
This was according to Mickle Butron, officer-in-charge of Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office in Oslob, Cebu, who narrated that a passenger bus was supposed to pass by the area where the landslide happened at the vicinity of Barangay Hagdan, Oslob.
But the driver, who was plying a south Cebu route, exercised caution. He had second thoughts about proceeding to his destination and opted to make a sudden halt when he noticed rumbling sound and dust coming from uphill.
A few seconds later, loose soil and rocks started to fall and covered a portion of the national highway, just 20 meters away from where the passenger bus was.
The landslide, Burton said, occurred around 7:30 a.m. and covered both lanes of the two-lane highway.
As of this writing, one lane of the national highway, the one bound for Cebu City, was already passable to all types of vehicles.
“Nag-remedy nalang mi og half nga lane para makalusot lang…alternate lang ang flow (of traffic) sa north ug south para jud makaagi ang tanan nga mga sakyanan nga paingon ug pa gawas sa Cebu City,” Burton said.
Butron said the personnel from the Central Visayas office of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH-7) are helping them with the clearing operations which they hope to finish within the day.
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