Philippine emergency officials on Tuesday formally ended a two-day search-and-rescue operation at the site of a collapsed nine-storey condominium building in Angeles City, Pampanga province, north of Manila, switching efforts to the recovery of remains as hopes fade for 16 people still unaccounted for.
The collapse occurred in the early hours of Sunday, May 24, when the upper floors of the building — a condominium project under construction — gave way onto a neighbouring hotel structure. At least four people have been confirmed dead, including a Malaysian national and two construction workers pulled from the rubble over the past 48 hours. The nationalities of the remaining victims were not immediately confirmed.
Rescue teams from the Bureau of Fire Protection, with support from military personnel and trained search dogs, worked around the clock. On Sunday, rescuers detected signs of life and successfully freed two survivors, only for both to die from their injuries shortly after extraction. On Monday afternoon, thermal sensors again detected what appeared to be heartbeats beneath the debris in the same area — prompting a brief resumption of operations before authorities concluded the readings likely came from animals trapped in the rubble.
“We know how hard this is for you,” said Maria Leah Sajili, information officer at the regional Bureau of Fire Protection, addressing the families at a Tuesday briefing. “We sympathise with what you are going through. Rest assured, we did everything we could to save lives, and now we have to move forward.”
The ordeal has left families devastated. Lea Casilao, 47, whose husband remains missing, told Reuters she had planned to meet her husband at the construction site on Sunday afternoon. “I kept calling his number, but nothing,” she said, sitting at a makeshift tent near the site as a bulldozer cleared debris from surrounding roads.
Up to 70 construction workers were employed at the site, according to officials, though most had left for the weekend when the collapse occurred. Of the 17 people originally listed as missing, one person contacted authorities Monday to confirm they had not been in the area at the time of the collapse, reducing the count to 16.
The cause of the collapse is under investigation by the Department of Public Works and Highways and local authorities. Questions are already being raised about construction standards and oversight at the site. Alfredo Albis, 55, a construction worker who said two of his cousins were among the missing, told AFP he believed the structure was being built hastily.
President Christopher Marcos Jr.’s office said the national government was monitoring the situation and stood ready to assist local authorities. An official inquiry into the incident and potential criminal liability of the project’s developers and contractors is expected to be launched this week.