1 dead, 2 injured in Cebu construction accident

CEBU CITY — A construction worker died while two others were injured after they were pinned on the ground by trusses from the hangar project that they were working on inside the Benito Ebuen Airbase in Lapu-Lapu City.

Benjamin Muñez, 35, of Sitio Arca in Barangay Pusok in Lapu-Lapu City died but had yet to be recovered from under the trusses as of 3 p.m. while his co-workers Celso Gestopa and Rommel Omolon were brought to the Brig. Gen. Benito Ebuen Hospital located inside the airbase.

Gestopa sustained a cut on his chest while Omolon was complaining of body pains.

Bienvenido Muñez, Benjamin’s father, said the three climbed a scaffolding to weld braces on six trusses already installed on the roof of the hangar project at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

Trusses are frameworks, typically consisting of rafters, posts, and struts, supporting a roof, bridge, or other structure. But the middle truss fell, causing five other nearby trusses to also fall on the climbing workers.

Benjamin got buried underneath by the trusses.

The hangar project is a replica of the original hangar which was demolished earlier to give way to the Mactan Cebu International Airport expansion project.