Nine people were hurt following the collapse of the concrete wall of Citi Hardware warehouse construction project in Barangay Cotcot, Lilo-an Cebu (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO).
Nine construction workers were hurt when a wall collapsed at a construction site in Lilo-an, northern Cebu yesterday afternoon following incessant rains.
PO3 Neil Ryan Talle, desk officer of the Lilo-an Police Station, said that investigation was still ongoing to determine the cause of the accident at the warehouse of Citi Hardware in Barangay Cotcot.
“So far, no representatives from the company came here at the police station,” Talle told Cebu Daily News last night.
The workers were identified as Lowel Batican, Bongo Cuba, Alex Rosal, Lazaro Capa Jr., Joel Procurato, Melvin Proburato, Rene Barrido, Condito Baculao and Antonio Cuenza.
They were all brought to the Mendero Hospital in the neighboring town of Consolacion for treatment of their injuries.
Azenith Wenceslao, a resident in the area, said that at past 2 p.m., she heard a loud thud and then saw people scrambling to rescue workers at the site.
“We thought that an earthquake happened. We rushed outside and saw that there were workers being rescued,” Wenceslao told CDN.
A joint search and rescue operation was immediately conducted by the Lilo-an Police Station, Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) and Lilo-an Search and Rescue Team.
In a visit to the site yesterday, members of the media were barred from entering the premises.
An off-duty construction worker, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told CDN that they have not been wearing safety gears at work.
“We only wear shirt, shorts, slippers and no protective gear,” the construction worker said in Cebuano.
He has been working at the site for about a month.
CDN tried to reach company representatives and Department of Labor and Employment (Dole-7) Director Exequiel Sarcauga, but no one was able to issue a comment last night.
However, Lilo-an Mayor Christina Garcia-Frasco said in a text message to CDN that “the LGU will be conducting a thorough investigation on this matter with all parties involved, including the contractor and its principal.”