Two persons were killed while six others were seriously injured after a tower crane at a construction site suffered structural failure and collapsed in Pasay City Tuesday afternoon.
Police said the incident, which happened around 12:50 pm at the ongoing construction site of STI Building on Epifanio delos Santos Avenue Corner P. Celle Street, also damaged at least three vehicles and caused the heavy traffic and power interruption in the area.
Southern Police District director Tomas Apolinario identified one of the fatalities as Jonathan Diserdo, 32-year-old crane operator of Monocrete Construction.
Apolinario said Diserdo was rushed to the San Juan de Dios Hospital along Roxas Boulevard but attending physicians declared him dead on arrival. He added the other fatality died on the spot.
Both victims died of severe head and body injuries.
Those injured were Kumbo Mabinay, 24, and Jay Ballon, 29, both security guards of Modern Security Agency detailed at the construction site; Chinese national Liu Shen Xiu, 30; and Francisco Angcatan, 59; Melvin Yosores, 28, and Elmer Sedol, 46, all crane erectors of the construction.
The injuries were also brought to the San Juan de Dios Hospital.
Philippine National Red Cross officials immediately dispatched two ambulances in the area while local rescue teams and community leaders assisted in bringing the victims to the hospital.
Police are now investigating to determine what exactly went wrong and who should be liable for the incident.
The Pasay City government, on the other hand, tapped the Office of the Building Official to sanction the contractor and halt its operation while the investigation is underway.
The local government also deployed two teams, from the mechanical and enforcement sections, to conduct onsite inspection and find out whether all standard operating procedures have been observed, and what caused the tower crane to fall.
