Worker hurt when part of Tondo flood wall collapses

MANILA, Philippines — A construction worker sustained minor injuries when a part of a flood wall being built along a creek in Tondo, collapsed on Sunday morning.

Randy Paz, 30, suffered abrasions on his right stomach after a portion of the flood wall being constructed along Casili Creek at A. Mabini Street in Gagalangin fell on him.

Foreman Jimboy Fuentes said Paz and four other workers were removing the wood support in the newly cemented wall when it gave way and fell on the makeshift bamboo foot bridge where the men were standing.

Paz was the only one injured as he was standing right where the blocks of cement collapsed, Fuentes added. Paz was taken immediately to President Diosdado Macapagal Memorial Medical Center in Caloocan City where he received medical treatment. He is now doing well and has checked out of the hospital, according to Fuentes.

He noted that the workers’ mistake caused the five-meter flood wall collapse. “I told them not to remove the wood support because the cement was not yet hard as it was just poured on Saturday,” Fuentes told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

But the men worked against Fuentes’ orders and removed the pieces of wood supporting the wall early Sunday morning. The steel bars, which served as the foundation of the wall, were also bent when the blocks of cement fell.

Fuentes noted that they would still have to clear the portion of the wall that collapsed, then pour cement again on that part.

The flood wall is a project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) from A. Mabini Street to the Manila and Caloocan boundary. The P40.8M flood barrier is expected to control the water from the creek from flowing to nearby roads and residences in the area. It was started last January and is expected to be finished by the second week of September.