A concrete wall collapsed on a group of construction workers in Tagaytay City on Monday night, July 11, which buried eight individuals including five of them who reportedly died due to injuries.
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said it was validating police reports from the ground which stated that five stay-in construction workers died after being buried underneath the rubbles when a six-meter concrete wall suddenly collapsed on them in Brgy. Kaybagal Central, Tagaytay City.
The incident happened around 6:20 p.m.
“We are still waiting for a verified report on the casualties. We have rescued three and we are still determining the status of the five others including the reported fatalities,” NDRRMC spokesperson Mark Timbal said in a Laging Handa press briefing on Tuesday, July 12.
Of the three, one of them reportedly died while being treated at the Ospital ng Tagaytay. He was identified as Ronilo Casaljay.
The two others, project engineer Marco Paulo Abarientos and construction worker Anthony Velasquez survived the ordeal with injuries on the head and body.
Initial reports stated that the construction workers were taking a rest inside their barracks when a concrete wall situated in the adjacent Hortaleza Farm suddenly collapsed.
The wall was made of hollow blocks and collapsed amid a heavy downpour in the area, reports reaching the NDRRMC said.
“There were eight of us inside the barracks. I was the first to be rescued . Then one of my masons was rescued but I heard he died in the hospital,” Abarrientos said, referring to Casaljay.
“Then around 9 a.m., they rescued another worker who responded to the calls, he was knocking . He asked for water,” he noted of Velasquez.
Meanwhile, the remaining five construction workers still trapped underneath the collapsed structure were the subject of an ongoing joint search, rescue, and retrieval (SRR) operations by the Cavite provincial DRRM office and local police.
However, four of them were said to be already lifeless, according to Tagaytay Police chief, Police Lt. Col. Norman Ranon.
“Search, rescue, and retrieval operations were ongoing,” Timbal said.
The workers were employed by 3-13 Construction firm.