Motorists stranded after landslide renders highway impassable in Ilocos Sur

Dozens of passengers were stranded early Friday morning after a landslide rendered a portion of a highway impassable in Santa, Ilocos Sur.

Ilocos Sur Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC) action officer Michael Chan could not give an estimate on how many individuals were stranded but told GMA News Online that the queue of stranded vehicles reached one to two kilometers.

There were no reported casualties because of the incident.

Chan said that at 11 p.m. on Thursday, there were already debris on the main highway going to Vigan. It was still passable to vehicles.

His office only received a call of alarm before 1 a.m. on Friday.



Chan explained that the landslide happened amidst heavy rain in the region. All of the water from the mountain beside the main road going to Vigan went down including some boulders. A balete tree was also toppled and dragged to the road.

Officials from the Department of Public Works and Highways have already started the clearing operations and repair works.  Half of the road has been open to traffic at around 7 a.m. today.

"Hindi pa [completely] clear, pero passable na," Chan said. -NB, GMA News