4 workers rescued after falling ill in ship’s hull

FOUR workers were rescued after they got suffocated while cleaning the hull of a barge docked at a shipyard in barangay Poblacion, Lapu-Lapu City yesterday morning.

Wendel Leonado, 36, Wilbeert Bonganciso, Jedmar Nilo and Jaypee de Castro, all residents of barangay Looc, were taken to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center where they are already in stable condition.

P01 Jason Elnar said the four workers were hired for maintenance works at Castor 3, a barge owned by Concrete Solutions Inc. docked at Cebu Stervedoring Inc. Shipyard.

Elnar said the workers, who didn’t wear protective gear, were tasked to clean tanks 1 and 8 located at the starboard side of the barge.

However, the workers instead opened tank 4 located at the port side.

When Deanado attempted to get inside the empty tank, he was suffocated and fell. Nilo tried to help Deanado but he also fell inside the tank. The two other workers rushed to help but they were also suffocated and fell inside the tank .

Another worker, Ernesto Lambot, said he was supposed to go down the hull but climbed back up after seeing his co-workers falling ill.

Paramedics from Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation rescued the four workers from the tank.

Police investigation revealed that the tanks have not been opened for two years and was already emitting foul odor.

SFO1 Hadji Samonte, fire investigator of Lapu-Lapu City Fire Central Department which helped in the rescue, said the presence of sulfuric acid or methane gas may have caused the suffocation.

Robert Laida, the contractor for the barge’s maintenance, said the workers were not instructed to enter the hull.

Pantaleon Giangan of Concrete Solutions Inc. Shipping said the contractor was asked  to do steel works on the barge’s surface and not in the manhole.

“We never authorized them to get in there.” Giangan said, adding that the company is taking care of the victims’ hospital needs.