1 killed, 2 hurt in construction site accident in Pasay

A 30-year-old construction worker was killed while two of his colleagues are now in critical condition when a tower crane fell on top of them at a construction site at the busy Pasay Rotunda yesterday morning.

Dead on the spot was Zosimo Gumapon, a laborer of L&M Maxco which is currently building a shopping mall at the corner of EDSA and Taft Avenue.

Seriously injured and now under observation at the Pasay City General Hospital are Armar Hussein, 25, and Tata Tumadlay, 21, both steelmen of the same construction company.

Investigation showed the incident occurred at about 7:30 a.m. while the three men were busy working at the construction site.

Workers at the site said Carmelo Lumbay was operating the tower crane when it suddenly lost its balance and toppled on its side, falling on the three laborers.

Police are still conducting follow-up investigation of the accident.

Meanwhile, pedestrians, particularly Metro Rail Transit (MRT) commuters, expressed concern over the safety of the area around the Taft-EDSA terminal.

The area is a daily picture of chaos, especially during rush hours in the morning and late afternoon, when MRT riders, sidewalk vendors, and resting laborers crowd the busy street corner.

The particular spot is fenced off with plastic railing put up by the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority in their implementation of the "closed door policy" seeking to stop rampant jaywalking in the area.

The crowding in the corner is worsened by the throngs of vendors that mushroom during rush hours and the perennial mud and water puddles due to the poor road condition.

Oscar Caranto told The STAR that the daily floods in the street corner were the result of the destruction of drainage pipes when the Metro Rail Transit was built.

In an earlier tragedy, five persons were killed in a fire in Malate, Manila last Saturday. Arson investigators said the fire could have been caused by a toppled candle in a three story house that had its electricity cut off for non-payment of the bill eight months ago.

Killed were Patricio Bustillo, 72, reportedly a former Philippine Army soldier, siblings Baby Boy, 4, Mirasol Ballo, 2, Nino, 7, and Marvin Macacando, 3.

The blaze started at about 11:30 p.m. on the second floor of the three-story concrete house occupied by the three families, including those of the victims. The fire in the house, located at 3172 Fidel Reyes st., Malate, Manila did not spread to other homes because it was quickly extinguished by responding firefighters.

Reports quoting Marilyn Macacando, the children’s mother, said the house had been without electricity for failure to pay a Manila Electric Company bill of P30,000.

Four other persons were reportedly injured in the fire, including the two other children of Marilyn – Nilmar, 5, and Marinel, 4 – whom she was able to save from their building house. The children were reportedly sleeping on the second floor when the fire broke out. Marilyn said smoke and darkness prevented her from coming back in to save more of her children.

Another survivor, the grandchild of Bustillo, Patrocinio III, groped his way out of the darkness up to the third floor and into the roof where he jumped onto the roof of a neighboring house. All the residents of the house are relatives. Damage to property was placed by the Manila Fire Department at P100,000.