Police: Tire blowout killed port worker

Police investigators determined yesterday that a hub cap that was sent flying by a tire blowout killed a port worker in Manila’s North Harbor late Thursday.

It is was initially suspected that Alex Catigan was killed by an explosion after a colleague, Domingo Colangan, heard a loud bang and saw Catigan’s bloodied face.

But police were baffled because there was no sign of burns.

"There was no other body injury except for the face of the victim. If the blast was caused by explosives, the injury would be all over the body of the victim," Chief Inspector Alejandro Yanquiling Jr. said.

Yanquiling said they initially had difficulty determining what happened because the scene was cleaned up before police officers arrived. "The area was already cleaned and the forklift removed from its original site when we arrived."

Forensic evidence later showed that Catigan was hit in the face by a hub cap when the tire of a forklift he was fixing blew up. The force threw Catigan several meters away from the forklift. Police could not immediately determine what caused the tire blowout.

Catigan suffered a fractured skull and died shortly.

Colangan had earlier told the police that he was helping Catigan fix the forklift’s tire shortly before he was killed. He left Catigan and was then startled by a loud bang that he initially thought was an explosion.

Colangan looked back and saw Catigan several meters away from the forklift. – Nestor Etolle