SAN MIGUEL, Bulacan—The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) upgraded the Madlum hanging bridge in this town after typhoons in 2022 destroyed the structure.
Originally, residents including children going to schools braved crossing the river in Barangay Sibul in this town through a hanged cable wires above the river.
But few years after the 2014 infamous Madlum Tragedy where seven Bulacan State University (BSU) students drowned because of flashfloods while in a tour in Madlum Cave, the government constructed a sturdy wooden-made hanging bridge.
Barangay Councilor Beverly Ligon said the wooden structure had remained safe for everyone including among the tourists who come to the place often.
However, the flashflood in 2022 brought by typhoon Karding destroyed the bridge.
The level of water in the river reached the hanging bridge and wrecked it. At least five rescuers from the Bulacan Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO) were killed while in a rescue mission during that flashflood in typhoon Karding.
