Traffic jams costing lives

Trying to make it: An ambulance negotiating through rush hour traffic on a highway in Manila. — AFP

Manila: Gridlock in Manila is costing lives as ambulances stuck in traffic face severe delays in the race against the clock to reach the city’s hospitals, medics warn.

Special lanes for emergency vehicles are not enforced, the infrastructure is outdated, and local drivers are often unwilling or unable to make way – a situation experts say is causing patients to die en route.