Building Under Construction Collapses, Leaving at Least 1 Dead and 21 Trapped

A terrifying building collapse in the Philippines has left at least one tourist dead and more than 20 people trapped under piles of concrete, twisted metal, and scaffolding.

The disaster happened before dawn Sunday in Angeles City, located north of the Philippine capital of Manila.

Officials said a nine-story building that was still under construction suddenly crumbled around 2:30 a.m. in a crowded neighborhood filled with budget hotels, cafes, spas, and homes.

At least one Malaysian tourist was killed when debris from the collapsing structure struck a nearby lodging house. Another guest was injured, according to Fire Superintendent Maria Lea Sajili.

Most of the people caught in the collapse were workers who had been sleeping on the ground floor of the unfinished building.

At least 24 workers either managed to run out before the structure completely came down or were rescued from the wreckage afterward. But officials said at least 21 people, mostly workers, remained trapped.

Two of the trapped workers were found alive, but rescuers could not immediately pull them out because of the dangerous conditions inside the collapsed structure.

Around 700 rescuers were carefully searching the rubble, removing debris by hand and using pails to create enough space to move safely through the wreckage.

Families of the missing gathered nearby, praying and crying as they waited for any news.

“This is the worst day of our lives,” 18-year-old Joamel Angcao told The Associated Press as she waited with her siblings for word about their parents.

Her mother and father had been running a food and coffee cart beside the building when it collapsed. Angcao said her parents had worked through poverty to send her and another sibling to school.

Another worker, young plumber John Carlo Villarente, said he had stepped out of the building about two hours before it collapsed after heavy rain and strong winds. He left to get a drink.

That decision may have saved his life.

“I was so shocked, there were people inside, including my nephew,” Villarente told The AP.

He said people tried to help but were stopped from getting too close because the area was still extremely dangerous.

Another plumber, 41-year-old Randy Alapide, was off duty when the collapse happened. He rushed back to the scene and helped rescuers by drawing a map to show where workers may have been trapped inside.

“I know three of the missing,” Alapide said. “They are breadwinners and they have families waiting for them.”

Emergency crews, ambulances, firefighters, and police surrounded the scene as rescuers worked to reach the survivors.

Sajili said two trapped workers had been located alive, but getting them out safely was taking time because crews had to move through unstable debris.

Nearly 200 police officers were also helping in the rescue effort. Regional police director Brig. Gen. Jess Mendez said the search would continue overnight “until all are accounted for.”

The collapse happened in Angeles City, a busy area tied closely to the former U.S. military presence in the Philippines.

The city once hosted one of the largest U.S. Air Force bases outside the American mainland until it closed in the early 1990s. The former base is now known as Clark Freeport Zone, a major industrial and tourism area about 50 miles north of Manila.

For the families waiting outside the rubble, none of that history mattered in the moment.