Cebu City building official probes ceiling collapse in Ayala mall cinema

Screengrab from Youtube

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Office of the Building Official (OBO) has started an investigation into the cause of the ceiling’s collapse in Cinema 5 of the Ayala-owned mall here, on Monday night, which left nine persons hurt.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama also planned to call a meeting with all cinema owners here to check their facilities and avoid a repeat of the accident.

He said he instructed the OBO and the City Engineer’s Office to inspect Cinema 5 of the Ayala Center Cebu to determine the cause of the ceiling collapse.

“They have to check what really happened. This is a timely warning to concerned individuals to take a look at our civil structures. What happened to Ayala has a message to convey to owners of all movie houses,” the mayor said.

At least 350 people were inside Cinema 5 to attend the advertising campaign launch of crazydomains.com.au by Dreamscape Inc. about 8:50 p.m. when water suddenly poured from the ceiling at the upper level of the theater.

As people on the upper seats started to move down to avoid getting wet, a portion of the ceiling collapsed.

At least nine people were hurt, said Jeanette Japzon, corporate communications manager of Cebu Holdings Inc., which owns Ayala Center Cebu.

Japzon said all those wounded were immediately treated on site. Five of the nine, however, were brought to the hospital after first aid to undergo medical examination and ensure they didn’t suffer internal injuries.

They were due for release on Tuesday, said Japzon.

She added most of the injuries were cuts in the hands, feet and shoulders.

Based on their initial findings, Japzon said, the sprinkler system released water that caused the acoustic boards to fall.

“We are further investigating the cause,” she said on Tuesday.

Florante Catalan, OBO assistant head, shared initial findings of Ayala mall engineers that the cinema’s sprinkler system released the water, which caused  the ceiling to collapse.

But Catalan, who inspected Cinema 5 on Tuesday, said he had yet to conduct further investigation and climb to the theatre’s roof.

Cinema 5 is the newest among the five theaters inside Ayala Center Cebu, which is located inside the Cebu Business Park, a financial and commercial hub operated by the Ayala-owned CHI.

Located on the fourth floor of Ayala’s new wing, Cinema 5 opened in December 2013.

Operations of the four other theaters in the main building were not disrupted over what happened in Cinema 5.

According to Japzon, the four theaters have a separate sprinkler system because these are located in another building.

Mayor Rama said he expected Ayala management to inspect their four other theaters for safety, while finding out what happened to the ceiling of Cinema 5.

“I know that with or without me issuing anything, Ayala will do something to fix the problem. They have the best engineers. And I’ll give them the opportunity to perform what they need to do,” he said.

But a visibly upset Mark Evans, chief executive officer of the Dreamscape Networks that booked Cinema 5 for the ad launching of crazydomains.com.au, vowed to file charges against the Ayala management.

“Without a doubt, we will file a case against Ayala. We got photos and videos of the event. We were actually filming the event,” said Evans, an Australian.

Evans, who had a wound on his finger, said he had to pull some people out of the cinema since it took about 25 minutes before security guards came to the area.

“The emergency response was zero. It was so embarrassing. No one knew what to do. So we, ourselves, began to pull people out. And the steel frames were all over,” he said.

Some of those who managed to go out of the cinema were soaked wet.

Volunteers of the Emergency Rescue Unit Foundation later came to assist employees of Dreamscape Networks.

In a statement, Japzon said the mall’s Emergency Brigade Team immediately responded to clear the area and those affected were immediately given medical care.

“We assure the public that the safety of our customers is a top priority in the mall and we are investigating (the accident) to prevent (its) recurrence,” she added. With a report from Doris C. Bongcac, Inquirer Visayas