Six individuals were confirmed dead while two survivors were rescued following a wall collapse incident in a construction site in Tagaytay City on Monday, July 11.
According to Philippine National Police (PNP) Col. Norman Rañon, two of the first three rescued individuals during the search and rescue operations were alive while the other died in the hospital upon arrival.
Three other casualties were found dead on the site on Tuesday.
PNP initial investigation showed that the incident happened around 6:00 p.m. on Monday.
Engr. Gregorio Mondejar, Tagaytay City administrator, said they found an existing wall built in the area, but the additional work for the site was not fully coordinated with the city engineer.
“Base doon sa initial assessment natin ay meron namang dating pader, dinagdagan lang nila ‘yun construction per se, meron naman siyang construction permit pero itong additional works e prang hindi fully coordinated sa city engineer natin,” he said,
“Mag-iimbestiga pa po kami after this incident, tinapos lang ho natin lahat na ma-retrieve lahat ng biktima,” he added.
The torrential rain caused the six-meter wall to collapse and hit the workers’ barracks.
Meanwhile, Project Engineer Marco Paulo Abarientos was one of the survivors who called for help and tried to rescue his coworkers.
“Pagtingin namin pati ‘yung baracks namin nahagip na, nandoon na sa ilalim tapos nakita ko yung butas, yung iba kong kasama nahawak sa akin hinila ko nang hinila kaya ako naubusan na rin ng hininga,” he said.
The local government of Tagaytay City and the PNP will be jointly investigating the incident. –Report from Ryan Lesigues/KC-ag
