(UPDATE) ANGELES CITY — Rescuers using thermal scanners and sniffer dogs pursued a search for survivors on Monday, more than 30 hours after the collapse of a nine-story building under construction that has already claimed four lives, authorities said.
More than a dozen people are believed to be still missing after rescuers failed to bring out alive two trapped construction workers who had been found buried beneath the rubble in Barangay Balibago, Angeles City on Sunday.
“We have detected signs of life” among the ruins, Maria Leah Sajiri, the regional spokeswoman for the fire bureau, told reporters. “Rescue operations are ongoing.”
The rescuers, led by local firemen, said they are using infrared technology to detect human body heat beneath the rubble.
Earlier Monday, two workers who were found alive and pinned beneath the wreckage of the nine-story structure, later died despite rescue efforts.
“The first of the two was pulled out alive, but unfortunately, his body gave out and he did not survive. Doctors could not resuscitate him,” Sajili said.
“The other one suffered a cardiac arrest around 3:00 a.m. Doctors could not attend to him as he was still pinned down,” she added.
A Malaysian guest at a nearby hotel damaged by the collapsed building was also killed Sunday, while crews pulled another corpse from the rubble on Monday.
It was not immediately clear if the unidentified body belonged to a person listed among the missing, rescuers said in an updated toll.
The Malaysian Embassy in Manila confirmed that two Malaysians were affected by the building collapse in Angeles City, Pampanga — with one confirmed safe.
“Currently all necessary efforts are being made to locate and establish contact with the next of kin of both individuals,” the embassy said in a statement.
The retrieved bodies were identified as Mohd Rezal Abdullah, a Malaysian, Mark Laurence Capungay and Properio Alikaway, both residents of Marilao, Bulacan.
The fourth body is still being identified to see if it belongs to a construction worker or the reported vendor outside the collapsed building.
Due to the uncertainty, authorities said about 17 other people were still considered missing, mostly construction workers who were sleeping at the building site when disaster struck.
Lea Casilao, girlfriend of a missing construction worker, said she had taken a bus from her Manila home to Angeles with rice and canned goods for her partner on Sunday, unaware of the pre-dawn accident on the same day.
“It’s very difficult; it is breaking my heart to wait for something uncertain,” 47-year-old Casilao said, crying as she recounted how she slept alone at a local government building overnight Sunday.
Search to continue
Search, rescue and retrieval operations will continue as long as there are people still unaccounted for, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said Monday.
“Until someone is found, until someone is saved, the operation continues,” the DILG said in a statement, as rescue teams pressed on with efforts at the Teodoro Street construction site that collapsed before dawn.
The department said that the safety and preservation of life remain its highest priority, while also recognizing the “extraordinary courage” of responders working under highly unstable and dangerous conditions.
As of 12 noon on May 25, authorities reported 26 people rescued, four confirmed fatalities and 17 still missing.
Rescue efforts are being led on-site by the Bureau of Fire Protection in coordination with other government agencies and local disaster response units.
A total of 267 personnel remain deployed, including members of the BFP Special Rescue Force, emergency medical teams, and augmentation units from Pampanga and neighboring provinces in Central Luzon.
The Philippine National Police (PNP) said it provided assistance to local authorities as well as emergency response units in Angeles City, Pampanga, while investigating the collapse of the hotel under construction.
“The PNP... will assist in the conduct of the investigation to determine the circumstances that led to the incident in the interest of truth and accountability. But, for now... the focus is on search and rescue operations,” said PNP chief Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez Jr.
“Every second matters in a crisis, and our duty is to act without delay, bringing every available asset to save lives, account for the missing, and support affected families on the ground,” he added.
The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority’s Search and Rescue team was also on site to locate people trapped beneath the rubble. The MMDA said the SAR team had already entered parts of the damaged structure and was conducting a technical search using advanced equipment such as a vibraphone and life locator to determine the exact location of possible survivors under the debris.
Lacking safety gear
The cause of the collapse is not known.
Regional labor department director Geraldine Panlilio said she had briefly shut the project down in September 2024 over violations of occupational safety standards.
“Our labor inspectors had monitored poor working conditions, a violation that would put our workers at risk,” she said in an interview over radio DZMM.
The construction workers “lacked safety gear” like hardhats, boots, safety belts and lifelines, and worked under poor lighting and with no visible safety signs, she added.
Construction resumed a month later after the building contractor complied with requirements, Panlilio said.
Officials said up to 70 people were employed at the construction site, though most had gone home for the weekend.
Alfredo Albis, 55, said he was asleep at a barracks for workers about five meters from the structure when it gave way.
“I have two cousins who are still trapped there. They were working here to earn for their families and (they) are missing,” he said, adding “there’s a possibility that my relatives are dead.”
Sajili, the fire bureau spokeswoman, said that “rescue in (a) building collapse is very challenging since any sudden shift triggered by the movements of our rescuers can cause areas to move and people under can get crushed.”
If no more survivors are found via scanners, earthmoving equipment will be brought in to clear debris and recover bodies, she said, but gave no timeline.
Government assistance
The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) extended immediate assistance, distributing family food packs, hygiene kits, and ready-to-eat food packs to affected individuals and families in the area.
Each of the 34 affected individuals also received P10,000 in financial assistance from the agency.
Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao of the DSWD Disaster Response Management Group said the department continues to monitor the situation closely while preparing additional interventions if needed. WITH BERNADETTE TAMAYO, JAMES DANIEL DANIO AND MOISES CRUZ
