Rescuers search for 23 missing at collapsed Philippine building

PAMPANGA: Rescuers clawed through the wreckage of a collapsed Philippine building on Sunday which left 23 people missing, with authorities saying that screams were heard from under the rubble.

The nine-storey building, under construction for more than two years, collapsed on itself Sunday at around 3:00 am in Angeles City, about 80 kilometres north of Manila.

The collapse also heavily damaged an adjacent hotel, where two of the 26 people who were rescued had been staying, officials said.

Rescuers conducting the initial assessment "heard someone crying out in pain" from under the rubble, Maria Leah Sajili, the Bureau of Fire Protection regional spokesperson, told reporters.

The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority General Manager Nicolas Torre told AFP they were sending rescue equipment and police dogs to aid the rescue.

"We also deployed life monitors, listening devices and also our rescue spreaders to help the rescuers since many debris need to be cut and lifted to locate people," Torre said.

Local policemen and firefighters deployed in the area said 23 people were possibly trapped in the site.
Piles of broken poles and debris covered the site more than 12 hours later as the search for survivors continued under the hot tropical sun, according to AFP journalists at the scene.

The rubble was wrapped in green protective plastic sheeting common at construction sites.
The cause of the collapse is yet to be determined.

'Loud noise'

Earlier, delivery rider James Bernardo, 30, told AFP by telephone he had just dropped off food on the same street when the disaster occurred.

"A few seconds later there was suddenly a loud noise in the area, and when I looked, I realised that (the building) had already collapsed," Bernardo said.

"Thank God I'm safe."
A video clip taken by Bernardo and verified by AFP showed a giant pile of twisted steel beams, power pylons and slabs of concrete blocking the street as fellow witnesses took photographs with their phones.
In the clip Bernardo can be heard saying, "We thought it was an earthquake, but it turned out it was the building (collapsing)."

City information officer Jay Pelayo told AFP the nine-storey building's walls and scaffolding had buckled, likely trapping people in a pile of debris.

"There are big chunks of concrete, and we need equipment to lift them up. That is what's challenging for the rescue right now," Pelayo said.

Initial reports suggested 24 people had been rescued from the building site, as well as two from the adjacent hotel, the city government said.

Interviews to determine the survivors' identities were ongoing, Pelayo said, adding that those rescued were in stable condition.