A steel bridge collapsed when an overloaded truck carrying quarry materials drove across it in the Philippines.

The Buhang-Egana bridge buckled under the weight of the heavy vehicle carrying sand through the town of Sibalom in Antique province at 3 am local time on September 26.

It was reportedly loaded with around 30 tons of sand - three times the limit of 10 tons, authorities said.

The bridge approach at one end had cracked and detached from the main road as a result, leaving the structure's midsection slumped and twisted.

The truck driver, Eljohn Orbigoso, also crashed into a nearby grocery store while trying to prevent the vehicle from plunging off the edge of the bridge.

Motorists were advised to take alternative routes while the bridge is being repaired.

The local public works and highways office said in an advisory: 'Maintenance crew are deployed for traffic management and installation of warning and directional signs; equipment on stand-by to provide necessary assistance.'

Master Sergeant Oliver Villanueva, chief investigator of the Hamtic municipal police station, said: 'We are still waiting for the investigation about the real cause of the collapse of the bridge so to know the liability of the driver or the person that had hired the truck.'

The incident came as Typhoon Noru slammed into the Philippines as a 'super typhoon,' which has left 12 dead and 52 more injured.