Wall collapse kills 2, hurts 5 in Cebu City

CEBU CITY—Two persons were killed while five children were injured on Tuesday when a portion of the retaining wall of a subdivision project collapsed on four houses in Sitio Kadahuan, Barangay Talamban, this city.

Rescuers from the Cebu City fire department and Philippine Air Force found the body of Alan Oporto, 40, past 9 p.m. Tuesday and Nestor Tapdasan, past 7 a.m. on Wednesday.

The injured children were brought to the North General Hospital here for treatment.

The victims’ houses were among at least 60 built along a creek in the area outside Casa Del Rio, a subdivision project of the Commonwealth Estate Inc. (CEI).

Jonji Gonzales, CEI spokesperson, said hairline cracks were found on the retaining wall by an inspection team commissioned by the company after the 6.9-magnitude  earthquake that shook Cebu and other areas in the Visayas on Feb. 6. The cracks were being repaired when the wall collapse occurred.

Gonzales said in a text message that CEI would shoulder all medical expenses of the victims.

The company would also provide financial assistance to the family of the two fatalities, he added.

“We are extending our deepest sympathy to the family of the two fatalities. We are praying for the quick recovery of those in the hospital,” Gonzales said in his text message.

Talamban Barangay Captain Jesus Remedio Jr. said the 80 families living below the subdivision’s retaining wall and along the riverbank would be asked to relocate as their homes would have to be demolished.

He said even prior to Tuesday’s accident, village officials had asked the residents to transfer but they refused.

Gonzales said CEI would conduct its own investigation to determine if contractor Dolfing Haulers Services, committed lapses in the repair of the retaining wall.