Zamboanga highway collapses, hundreds stranded

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – Hundreds of commuters were stranded in Zamboanga City on Tuesday after a portion of a highway collapsed here. "The road is now closed and we are working on a diversion road to allow motorists to pass," said Mayor Celso Lobregat. Lobregat inspected the site in the village of Victoria. Villagers blamed torrential rains in the past weeks for the soil erosion that led to the collapse of the road. There were no reports of accidents, but hundreds of commuters were stranded in Zamboanga City because provincial buses could not pass. Last month, a pregnant mother and her child were killed after a landslide buried a house on the hillside village of Maasin, also in Zamboanga City. Heavy rains triggered by a typhoon loosened the soil that buried the house. - Al Jacinto, GMANews.TV