Waiting shed collapses; girl, 7, killed

MANILA, Philippines - A seven-year-old girl was killed when a waiting shed that was still under construction collapsed as she and her two friends were playing in Pasig City Thursday.

Jessabelle Homerez, a first grade student, was declared dead on arrival at the Pasig City General Hospital. Her two friends were unhurt.

She and her friends, identified only as Ramon and Emalyn, usually played every afternoon near the shed along the banks of the Pasig River in Barangay Kalawaan, according to Senior Inspector Rodrigo de Dios, chief of the city police’s station investigation and detective management branch.

He said the wire securing the shed’s roof frame gave way and steel bars crushed Homerez. Barangay chairman Jimmy Lee rushed the girl to the hospital.

Senior Superintendent Mario Rariza, city police chief, said they are trying to determine who had the waiting shed built.

Department of Public Works and Highways Undersecretary Rafael Yabut said the waiting shed is not a DPWH project.