4 construction workers dead in landslide


NUEVA VIZCAYA – Four workers died after they were buried alive in a construction site Friday, September 3, in Sitio Naduntog, Tiblac Ambaguio town.

Police identified the fatalities as Rafael Villar, 42, construction leadman, and John Retamola, 25, a construction worker, both of Villaverde town.

The two other workers were Christopher Padua, 38, and Carlos Tome, both of Bayombong town.

The MDRRMO Ambaguio, BFP Ambaguio and PNP Ambaguio during the Retrieval Operation (Soil erosion/Landslide) at Sitio Naduntog,Tiblac, Ambaguio, September 3, 2021 .( photo Nueva Vizcaya PPO/MANILA BULLETIN)

All four were working at a construction site in Sitio Naduntog, Barangay Tiblac in Ambaguio where they were working on a slope protection wall.

Police said while the victims were digging to start the construction of the wall, the soil eroded and instantly buried the victims around 8:30 a.m.

Meanwhile, a report from the office of Col. Ranser Evasco,PNP Provincial Director of Nueva Viscaya said the lifeless bodies of the victims were recovered by the search and rescue team.

The remains were all brought to Funeraria Gambito, Bayombong Nueva Vizcaya.

Investigation revealed that while in the process of digging out the bodies of the victims, three of the victims’ bodies had been dismembered when they were accidentally hit by the backhoe’s digger bucket.

The search and rescue operation ended around 1:00 p.m. of Friday.