Siblings rescued from hotel’s hanging ladder

MANILA, Philippines - A three-year-old girl and her four-year-old brother were rescued from a ladder hanging from the roof of a hotel in Manila yesterday afternoon.

The siblings were reported missing at about 9 a.m. They were found holding on to a ladder hanging from the roof of the 12-story City State Hotel at around 1 p.m. and were rescued an hour later.

Investigators have yet to establish how the siblings ended up at the ladder. Their parents and nanny had checked into a room at the third floor.

Barangay 306 marshals and officials, whose office is only 30 meters away from the hotel, rescued the children.

Barangay chairman Joey Jamisola said his sister, Yolanda Victoria, reported the incident at about 1 p.m. Victoria works for a bank beside the hotel.

Jamisola said they called the government’s Rescue 117 hotline, but the rescue team was still not there half an hour after they placed the call.

They connected four ladders end to end to reach the children and placed four king-size mattresses to cushion their fall. The boy, who was on the third rung from the top, was easily rescued.

Jamisola said the boy apparently attempted to reach his younger sister.

The task of rescuing the girl fell to barangay watchman Jeff de Guzman. Other rescuers held on to a rope tied to De Guzman’s waist as he clambered on the four ladders to rescue the girl.

The makeshift rescue ladder and the one hanging from the hotel rooftop swayed as De Guzman climbed to rescue the girl. Onlookers screamed as the ladders seemed to dance due to the strong winds during the 30-minute rescue operation.

When De Guzman finally reached the girl, the three-year-old spoke only one word, “Mama.”

The children were immediately turned over to their parents. Hotel supervisor Willy Cansino said the family checked out at around 2 p.m.