Worker dies from fall, 1 in critical condition

CEBU, Philippines - A construction worker died while another is in critical condition after they fell from the 11th floor of a newly constructed building they were painting along Archbishop Reyes Avenue yesterday morning.

Jovito Alvarado, 42, was declared dead on arrival at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center while his cousin, Crisanto Cupta, 21, is still fighting for his life at the same hospital as of press time.

Witnesses said the victims were on a suspended platform or "gondola" attached to metal scaffoldings while painting the building when it suddenly collapsed.  

The victims were wearing safety harness but were reportedly attached to the metal bar that went down with the gondola.

Two other employees were fortunate enough to have attached their safety harness to another part of the scaffolding. They were suspended in the air for about three minutes before they were finally rescued by fellow construction workers.

Arturo Obiso, one of the two employees who were saved, said he was frightened and thought that he would die. In fact, he was still trembling when interviewed by The Freeman.

The victims' employer promised to shoulder all hospital and burial expenses. Despite the amicable settlement between the families of the victims and the employer, the Cebu City government will conduct an investigation into the incident.

The Office of the Building Official is sending a team today to inspect the site. City engineer Jose Marie Poblete said the team will identify the reason why the accident happened.

Poblete said that if it is about the structural stability, then OBO has the jurisdiction to give sanction to the one liable for the incident.

"Ang ato man gud sa OBO, ang concern nato is ang compliance gyod sa plans and specifications. As to the methodology and the actual construction safety, it is the look out of the contractor," he said.

Poblete said the contractor should deploy a safety engineer in the construction site to supervise the workers.

"We will look at it aron makatan-aw ta kon unsay cause, if its structural defect or disgrasya lang gyod kay naa man pod sakto ang precautions pero wala nagtan-aw ang trabahante. Atong tan-awon unsa gyod ang hinungdan," Poblete said.— (FREEMAN)