Mother, daughter missing in quake-hit Davao Sur town

Only the third floor remains of the three-story Southern Trade commercial building in Padada town, Davao del Sur, after it collapsed when a 6.9-magnitude quake hit the province on Sunday. ELDIE AGUIRRE

PADADA, DAVAO DEL SUR –– A mother and her daughter, who came to Padada town to sell copra, have been reported missing since Sunday when the magnitude 6.9 quake sank two floors of a three-story commercial building in this town, killing at least three people and a still unknown number trapped inside.

Police Captain Arnold Absin, Padada chief of police, said a family was looking for Brenda Rabor, 47, and her daughter Honey Bee, 17, who must have gone inside the store to buy shoes for the girl after they sold their copra.

“There were lots of people going in that grocery store particularly on Sunday when the magnitude 6.9 quake occurred,” Absin said.

Members of the Rabor family went to the police to report their missing kin.

They were asking authorities to continue the retrieval operation on the first floor of the collapsed Southern Trade Center.

Police said the retrieval operations ended on Tuesday.

Engineer Luke Cadoyas, municipal disaster risk reduction, and management officer, said the three-story building now awaited demolition and had been cordoned off from the public, guarded by policemen.

On Tuesday, the top-most layer of the ill-fated shop was broken down by a hydraulic breaker to allow easier access to it.

Earlier, three bodies were extricated from the rubble, including that of grocery salesperson Emily Gallegos, found about two meters from the store entrance late on Monday night.

Absin said the debris clearing would start because no one could prove that the missing persons went inside the building.

Edited by Lzb