Skeletons in the basement

The police collect human remains found at an abandoned building in Quiapo’s Islamic Center on Thursday. —LYN RILLON

The Manila police have discovered the skeletal remains of two persons in the basement of an abandoned building in Quiapo.

Encased in  concrete, the skulls and bones were  found because they still emitted a foul odor, said Senior Insp. Fernildo de Castro, chief of Manila Police District’s homicide section.

The MPD on Thursday was still checking the owner of the building located on an alley at the Islamic Center in Barangay 648.

De Castro said barangay officials where the first to check the building on Jan. 10 because of the smell, which they traced to a block of concrete placed under a flight of stairs.

The following day, forensics and homicide investigators arrived at the site and discovered the skeletons after breaking the block apart using a jackhammer.

Earlier media reports said the remains of five persons were found, but De Castro on Thursday said only two skulls were recovered. —AIE BALAGTAS SEE