LANDSLIDE. Rescuers work to retrieve the bodies of two construction firm employees, who were buried in mud after a landslide swept the barracks they were staying in amid continuous monsoon rains in Barangay Salud Mitra, Baguio City around 3 p.m. on Wednesday (June 13, 2018). (Photo courtesy of Paeng Valencia, Rescue 911)
BAGUIO CITY -- Two persons died and two others were injured in landslide incidents affecting separate construction sites in Baguio City amid continuous monsoon rains on Wednesday.
Office of Civil Defense (OCD) chief Alex Uy in Cordillera said Thursday two construction firm employees died and another one was injured in a landslide along Sandico Sreet in Barangay Salud Mitra around 3 p.m., while one person was wounded at another construction site in Barangay Loakan.
The victims in Barangay Salud Mitra were identified as project engineer Patrick Lachica, 23, of Beckel, La Trinidad, Benguet and Hannah Jean Aragon, 22, Human Resources Department representative of the construction firm and resident of Happy Homes in Baguio. Sherwin Corpuz, the security guard at the site, was also wounded in the incident.
Initial police investigation showed the two fatalities, both employees of FCL Laranang Construction, were in the construction site's makeshift barracks for workers, when the loosened soil on the hill eroded and swept away the temporary structure.
They were buried in the mud. Rescuers dug out their bodies after the incident.
Meanwhile, 24-year-old Joshua Valencia was also wounded in another landslide in Loakan on Wednesday, when his leg was buried in loose soil with steel bars from an ongoing construction.
Uy said there were about seven other minor landslides recorded on different national roads and local roads in the region. They were immediately cleared by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), which had pre-positioned their equipment in strategic areas.
All national roads in the Cordillera are passable as of 7 a.m. on Thursday.
But Uy advised the public and encouraged the local disaster risk reduction councils to prepare for and respond to the possible impacts of "habagat" or the monsoon rains, avoid venturing out in waterways and in landslide- or rockslide-prone areas to prevent accidents.
He asked the authorities to manage the flow of rain waters in the region, "which could cause the mountain slopes or soil edges to collapse, like the incident in Baguio".
As a precaution, the OCD chief also relayed Benguet's advisory that trekkers and hikers are now restricted from Mount Pulag and Mount Purgatory in Bokod town, as well as Mount Ulap in Itogon town.
Since June 7, a major part of the upland region has been experiencing continuous heavy downpour.
State weather bureau PAGASA had also warned the public that continuous heavy to moderate rains will be experienced until the weekend. (PNA)
