Couple rescued after car tumbles down embankment, flips into ditch

A man and a woman were rescued from a car that went off the Mega Dike Access Road and into a ditch in Porac, Pampanga.

According to Cesar Apolinario's report on Balitanghali on Tuesday, the vehicle blew through two concrete barriers on the side of the road and tumbled down the slope past 4 p.m. on Monday, flipping over several times. 

Footage of the risky rescue effort showed residents rushing to get the victims out of the vehicle, which lay upside-down in the water.

The woman, who was driving, was seen crying from pain in her back. It took 30 minutes to get her onto a stretcher to bring her to a waiting ambulance.

Her male companion, who sat by the car in shock and introduced himself as the woman's boyfriend, said she lost control of the vehicle while driving fast down the highway.

An investigation later showed that the woman fell asleep while driving.

As the water in the ditch was waist-deep, witnesses said the couple could have been in grave danger if rescuers had not come sooner.

"Baka mamatay po 'yung dalawa sa loob dahil lang po hindi sila makalabas," Jessy Sigua, who assisted in the rescue, said. — Margaret Claire Layug/BM, GMA News