5 dead as scaffolding collapses in Rizal

MANILA, Philippines - Five construction workers are now feared dead after the scaffolding they were using to fix a 228-foot smokestack of a coal power plant in Barangay Malaya, Pililia, Rizal collapsed on Sunday afternoon.

Joey Marco, head of the Antipolo City Rescue Unit which was among the first responders in the scene, said the bodies of three of the victims identified as Eduardo Fidel, Gregorio Ricalde and Roberto Mesias have been retrieved from the rubble.

Meanwhile, retrieval operations were ongoing as of this posting to recover the bodies of Jeffrey Sinag and Antonio Manguerra.

The victims are workers of the East West contractors.

"The incident happened at 1 p.m. on Sunday. The initial assessment ay talagang patay na rin 'yung dalawa," said Marco.

Marco said the retrieval is being done by East West as rescuers are not permitted to enter the premises by the plant's management.

"Hindi kami pinapapasok. Anyway, tao naman nila yun. We will just assist them," said Marco.

Marco said the plant's management has yet to talk with the rescuers as to what exactly had happened prior to the incident.

Police earlier said 17 workers were fixing the smokestack of the Malaya thermal plant which is being operated by the SPC Power Corp. when the scaffolding collapsed at about 1 p.m., causing them to plunge to the ground and be trapped under the structure.

Eight other workers sustained injuries and had to be rushed to hospitals. Police identified four of them as Benedicto Batain, Rogelio Carigma, Tereso Esguerra and Golberto Rodriguez.

The injured victims were taken to the Tanay General Hospital and as of this posting, only four of the injured workers were still at the hospital.