The Rodriguez Municipal Police Station (Rodriguez MPS) said on Sunday, Feb. 22, that three employees of a sanitary landfill were injured after they were allegedly caught under a heap of garbage that collapsed at a privately owned landfill in Rodriguez, Rizal on Friday, Feb. 20.
The Rodriguez Sanitary landfill in Rodriguez, Rizal where the collapsed trash happened on Feb. 20. (Photo from Rodriguez Police)
Rodriguez MPS Chief Lt. Col. Arwyn Gaffud told the Manila Bulletin that the information about the collapse of a massive pile of trash only reached the police station two days after the incident.
Gaffud said the foreman of the injured personnel told them that the incident happened around 4 p.m. on Friday at Sitio 1B, Harangan, in Barangay San Isidro.
Based on the initial investigation, the three victims, who are bulldozer operators, were immediately rescued by their co-workers following the incident that occurred in a portion of the landfill area operated by International Solid Waste Integrated Management Specialist. Inc. (ISWIMS).
A photo of the bulldozer in the Rodriguez landfill similar to the one that was buried in the trash (Photo from Lt. Col Gaffud)
They said the victims were in their respective heavy equipment vehicles when the garbage, which they were leveling, collapsed, resulting in the bulldozer sliding down the ravine of trash.
He added that reports claiming 50 individuals were allegedly missing, as earlier cited by some media outlets and on social media, have yet to be verified. However, as of 5:30 p.m. on Sunday, no one had gone to the police station to report a missing relative.
Gaffud said the three victims were safely rescued from the rubble of trash and were all accounted for, as the foreman of the landfill told him.
The identities of the injured were still unavailable as of this posting, as the authorities are still awaiting the official statement of the management of the landfill’s operator, ISWIMS.
The police chief said two of the three victims were rescued first, followed by the third. All three were later sent home after receiving medical treatment.
There was no report of other casualties or fatalities, according to the Rodriguez Police.
Earlier, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) reported that three scavengers were missing and are believed to have been buried alive in the incident.
Authorities were conducting ongoing validation to verify if there were other casualties. Search and rescue operations were also being carried out to search for the missing persons.
Meanwhile, the Rizal Provincial Government released a statement, saying, "Despite bearing the name of the province, the said sanitary landfill is neither owned nor managed by the Rizal Provincial Government. Its operations and management are under a private company."
To address the matter, the provincial government has called on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to conduct a thorough, immediate, and transparent investigation to establish the full truth, hold those responsible accountable, and ensure that such an incident does not happen again.