Pregnant woman, companions, and ambulance driver hurt in Manila’s train collision

Manila: A pregnant woman, her three companions, and an ambulance driver were hurt when their ambulance collided with a train on Manila’s Blumentritt, police said.

They were brought to a nearby hospital after parts of the severely damaged ambulance were extracted from the railway tracks, said the police, adding the victims came from Metro Manila’s northern suburban Caloocan and were on their way to a hospital in Manila where the pregnant woman was to deliver her baby.

The ambulance driver tried to cross the railway track to beat an oncoming train, but a slow-moving three-wheeled vehicle blocked its way.

The Philippine National Railway (PNR), operator the 124-year old government-run ground train, has been criticised for uncontrolled collision with vehicles at crossroads. It used to operate 1,100 kilometre railway from northern Luzon’s La Union to southern Philippines’ Bicol region.