Quick summary: A fatal building collapse in the northern Philippines has claimed the life of a Malaysian hotel guest and trapped dozens of workers under rubble, highlighting the deadly consequences of unauthorized structural expansions outpacing local regulatory oversight. Emergency personnel deployed specialist listening devices and rescue dogs into the night to extract survivors from the unstable debris, with initial investigations focusing on an unapproved tenth-floor swimming pool as the primary catalyst for the catastrophic failure. These tragic findings carry urgent relevance for public policy and healthcare practice, demonstrating that stringent enforcement of municipal engineering codes and rapid-response trauma infrastructure are critical to safeguard public well being and prevent avoidable urban development disasters.
A Malaysian man has been killed after a nine-storey building under construction collapsed in the northern Philippines, partially crushing an adjacent hotel and trapping construction workers beneath the rubble.
The incident occurred at 3am in Barangay Balibago along Teodoro Street in Angeles City, 80km north of Manila, amid reports of a thunderstorm in the area. A total of 20 people remained missing more than 14 hours after the collapse, while rescuers have pulled 26 people from the rubble so far.
The victim was identified as Mohd Rezal bin Abdullah, a 65-year-old hotel guest from Malaysia’s Sabah state. Acting Philippine fire chief Rico Kwan Tiu told AFP that the victim had managed to communicate with rescuers by phone while pinned under a hotel wall shortly after the accident.
“Unfortunately, when we retrieved him just now, he was found dead,” Kwan Tiu said.
Rescuers conducting the initial assessment “heard someone crying out in pain” from under the rubble, said Maria Leah Sajili, the Bureau of Fire Protection regional spokesperson.
Video clips posted by rescuers on the regional fire bureau’s Facebook page showed a fireman using a power tool to free a man in a blue shirt who moaned in pain beneath a scaffolding of metal tubes and plywood, with the rescuer heard saying, “Relax, brother.” Other footage showed firemen squeezing through narrow gaps in the rubble in an attempt to find other trapped workers.
“We are trying to rescue two (workers). They are conscious but pinned underneath. Hopefully we will be able to get them out before dark,” Kwan Tiu told AFP.
City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin noted that “almost all of those inside the collapsed building were asleep because this happened in the early hours of the morning.”
Search and rescue operations continued into the night, with more than 100 personnel from fire services, police, and other agencies involved. The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority deployed rescue equipment and police dogs to assist.
“We also deployed life monitors, listening devices, and also our rescue spreaders to help the rescuers since a large amount of debris needs to be cut and lifted to locate people,” said MMDA General Manager Nicolas Torre.
Delivery rider James Bernardo, 30, told AFP he had just dropped off food on the same street when the disaster struck.
“A few seconds later there was suddenly a loud noise in the area, and when I looked, I realised that (the building) had collapsed,” he said. “Thank God I’m safe.”
In a video clip taken by Bernardo and verified by AFP, he is heard saying, “We thought it was an earthquake, but it turned out it was the building (collapsing).”
City information officer Jay Pelayo told AFP the building’s walls and scaffolding had buckled, trapping people in a pile of debris. “There are big chunks of concrete, and we need equipment to lift them up. That is what’s challenging for the rescue right now,” he said.
The cause of the collapse has yet to be determined. Officials noted that planning records showed the building was approved as a nine-storey condo hotel, but found out that a swimming pool was being constructed on an unauthorised 10th floor. Authorities have launched an investigation into possible structural defects or permit violations.
Building collapses remain a concern in the Philippines, where rapid urban development sometimes outpaces regulatory oversight.
Kwan Tiu added: “We will continue the rescue until such time that we are able to locate those who were trapped. There are still people alive. I am certain.”
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