Photo courtesy Avito Dalan
POLICE on Tuesday said that retrieval operations continue after a concrete fence collapsed in Barangay Kaybagal Central in Tagaytay City on Monday night.
City police chief Col. Norman Ranon said three of the eight victims that were buried in the rubble were already recovered. One of them has been confirmed dead.
“Sa walo na naging biktima, tatlo po dun ang na-retrieve na. So sa tatlong na unang na-retrieve dalawa po dun ay buhay at isa ay patay na nang madala sa ospital. So lima pa ho ang hindi natin nare-retrieve sa gumuhong pader at ito apat na ho ang bangkay na nakikita namin at seemingly lifeless na po sila wala na pong sign of life. (Out of the eight victims, we already retrieved three. The first two of the three retrieved victims are alive while the other was dead on arrival at the hospital. So, we have yet to retrieve five persons from the rubble and we already saw four seemingly lifeless bodies and they already have no signs of life),” he said.
Ranon added that only one victim remains unaccounted for.
Among the two survivors was the project engineer who sustained minor bruises from the incident.
Initial reports said victims were resting at the barracks of 3-13 Construction when the six-meter concrete fence and cement hollow blocks of Hortaleza Farm collapsed at around 6:20 p.m. amid heavy rains in the area.
“The biggest challenge for us is that the section that needs to be searched is too big. We cannot simply use a backhoe so we are now using a jackhammer. We have to be careful because the cement might fall further on one of the victims, the missing one, as he might still be alive,” he said in Filipino.
