Malate budget hotel collapses; 2 dead

MANILA, Philippines — Two construction workers died after they were pinned under the rubble of the Sogo budget hotel that collapsed in Malate, Manila yesterday morning. 

Mayor Isko Moreno and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) general manager Jojo Garcia deployed rescue teams to look for other persons believed trapped in the collapsed building along Mabini street.

The fatalities were Melo Ison and Jerome Fabello.

Ison’s brother, Edson, was injured after he jumped from the building. He was taken to the Ospital ng Maynila for treatment.

The MMDA and city hall deployed cranes to support the building while rescue teams extricated the bodies.

Authorities said Ison’s remains were retrieved first at around 3 p.m.

The body of Fabello was retrieved three hours later because he was pinned under a concrete wall .

“This is no longer rescue operations. This is the retrieval part of the situation because the second body retrieved was the first person identified dead,” Moreno said.

The hotel building has been up for demolition since August.

Moreno said he would look into the civil liabilities of the management.

“I will order the city engineering to find out if anyone’s at fault. We don’t want to accuse anybody until we see any lapses on the part of the Sogo management or the contractor,” he said.

Authorities said the structure was vulnerable to further collapse since its foundations were shaken.

Personnel of the Ospital ng Maynila were alerted for possible survivors as others workers remained unaccounted for as of press time yesterday.

Moreno ordered the closure of the hotel’s side along Adriatico street after learning that the establishment still accepted guests despite the incident.

A portion of Mabini street was closed to traffic during the retrieval operations. – With Jose Rodel Clapano