PHOTO BY FAYE ORELLANA/INQUIRER.net
MANILA, Philippines — There are no more signs of life in the collapsed supermarket in Porac town in Pampanga on Wednesday, but search and rescue operations will continue, according to the Pampanga police.
In a press briefing, Pampanga police chief Col. Jean Fajardo said rescuers and K-9 units confirmed that there are no signs of life at the Chuzon Supermarket that collapsed due to the 6.1-magnitude earthquake that hit parts of Luzon, including Metro Manila, on Monday.
“Pinaikutan po nila sa K-9, ang na-detect ng K-9 is yung naputol na paa at yung yung other yung bay 1 and 2 negative po yun patay at buhay wala din po (The K-9 units have only found severed legs. Bay 1 and Bay 2 are negative for any sign of life),” Fajardo said.
She clarified, however, that they will still pursue search and rescue operations as the gadgets they are using may not be accurate in detecting the presence of life inside the building.
“Ayaw namin matapos yung search and rescue operation po… baka magkamali ang ating K-9 [units] yung kanilang detector kasi sa dami ng equipment natin baka ma-confuse minsan. Makina po yun e,” she said.
(We do not want the search and rescue operation to end yet. Our K-9 units may miss something, and our gadgets may fail because they are machines.)
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has also started the clearing operations, but they also checked for signs of life in the building, Fajardo said.
“Pina-umpisahan na namin sa DPWH yung clearing just to check and confirm na wala na po doon (We asked the DPWH to start clearing operations and to check and confirm that there are no more signs of life there),” she said.
So far, rescuers had retrieved four dead bodies and rescued eight injured workers. /ee
READ: Over 90 employees of quake-hit Pampanga supermart remain unaccounted for–Pineda