APAS LANDSLIDE
JOEL Brobo, 41, was supposed to go back to his hometown in Tabogon in northern Cebu yesterday after spending the week working as a carpenter in a house being built in Barangay Apas, Cebu City.
But he never made it home alive.
At 5:15 p.m. yesterday, Brobo was cleaning himself when he was squarely hit by debris caused by a landslide in Sitio Back GMA.
While his head and arms were not buried, his chest and torso were pinned down by a boulder.
“We extricated him. But there was already no pulse and no breathing. In the jargon of rescuers, he’s already dead. But it is only a doctor who can declare him dead,” said Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRRMO) head Nagiel Bañacia who went with the rescue team that extricated Brobo.
The victim was taken from under the boulder at 6:40 p.m.
Bañacia said that Brobo was hired as a carpenter building a house in the area.
He said that Brobo was washing his feet and preparing to go home when the landslide occurred after a riprap being built near the house gave way.
Banacia said that it was only a small landslide, but Brobo died because of the boulder that pinned him prevented him from breathing.
Bañacia said the CCDRRMO and the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation rescuers tried their best to revive Brobo even while they were transporting him to the hospital.
But Bañacia said that the victim was not responsive anymore.