Two persons died after the ceiling of an abandoned water refilling station in Pasay City collapsed mid-renovation.
According to a “24 Oras” report by Jhomer Apresto on Thursday, rescue teams have been digging through cement to recover missing persons who may have been buried under rubble after the building’s ceiling collapsed on Wednesday.
Police said search and rescue operations for all five victims lasted for two hours.
The search resulted into the recovery of two dead persons — a senior citizen and a construction worker — and three injured construction workers.
Rosalinda Gamilla, who operated a store next-door, said the water station had not been operating for more than a year and renovation work only recently begun.
“Kung napaaga kami, talaga pong damay kami ng asawa ko kasi po diyan kami sa bintana. Malakas yung [magiging] impact nung mga bubog kasi umabot pa po dito eh,” said Gamilla.
(If we opened (our store) earlier, I and my husband really would have been affected because we stayed near the windows. The impact of the glass shards [would have been] strong because it reached up to here.)
Investigation revealed that the structure’s foundations were not sturdy, and that the renovations were illegal.
Police also said the owners of the structure did not follow health and safety standards, as the victims did not wear the proper safety gear or equipment.
“Wala pong metal scaffolding no, tinukuran lang ng mga kahoy… Initial investigation po, no building permit po talaga ung ginagawang estruktura kaya dun pa lang po, meron na po silang violation,” said Pasay Police Commander Police Major Geo Colibao.
(There was no metal scaffolding, they were only holding it up with wooden poles… Initial investigations showed that there really were no building permits for the ongoing structure so from there, they already had violations.)
The owners of the structure may face charges for Reckless Imprudence resulting in Homicide.
GMA Integrated News has reached out to the owners for comment.
“Sundin natin yung mga safety protocols, kumuha tayo ng kinakailangang building permit para maiwasan natin yung mga ganitong sakuna,” added Colibao.
(Let’s follow the safety protocols, and procure the needed building permit to avoid these kinds of catastrophes.) — Jiselle Anne Casucian/BAP, GMA Integrated News
