BAGUIO CITY — Two construction firm employees died when the barracks they were staying in was carried away by a landslide caused by gushing waters along Sandico Sreet in Barangay Salud Mitra here around 3 p.m. on Wednesday.
Baguio City Police Office Station 3 chief Senior Inspector Julius Basinga identified the fatalities as project engineer Patrick Lachica, 23, of Beckel, La Trinidad, Benguet; and Hannah Jean Aragon, 22, Human Resources Department representative of the construction company currently building a condominium, and a resident of Happy Homes, in this city.
Lachica and Aragon were both employees of FCL Laranang Construction, the firm putting up the Mega Tower condominium at the accident site.
Based on initial investigations, Sherwin Corpus, a security guard at the construction site, said he went to the barracks to have coffee and ease himself from the cold weather. Thereafter he felt some movement on the ground and rushed out of the barracks. He said it was too late to save the two, as mud was already gushing with the structure at that time.
The two victims were buried in the mud.
Police personnel and emergency response volunteers immediately responded and were able to retrieve the buried bodies of Lachica and Aragon.
People in the area were advised to take the necessary precaution, especially with the loosening of soil due to the continuous rains.
PAGASA had earlier warned that the city will experience continuous rains until the weekend due to the southwest monsoon.
A weather advisory from the Office of the Civil Defense in Cordillera at 7 p.m. Wednesday stated that the southwest monsoon is affecting Luzon.
“The 12-hour rainfall forecast is moderate to occasionally heavy rains with thunderstorms. All watercourses, rivers, and tributaries in the region are likely to be affected. The public and the local disaster risk reduction management councils are advised to be on alert and take necessary measures against possible flashfloods and landslides,” the OCD said. (Dionisio Dennis, Jr./PNA)
