Cebu warehouse collapses; two hurt

TWO laborers were hurt when the roof and ceiling of a 90-year-old warehouse along M.C. Briones St. in front of the new Cebu City Hall building collapsed yesterday.

They were identified as Eduardo Largo, 58, of Dumlog, Talisay City and a certain Johnrex. Largo suffered a fracture on his left foot and was confined at the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC). Johnrex suffered bruises from falling debris.

Cebu Acting Mayor Michael Rama ordered the Office of the Building Official (OBO) to check the structural integrity of the other warehouses along M.C. Briones. Rama said there were at least three warehouses in the area, which were leased by private individuals.

Rama said the walls of the warehouses were okay, but some parts of the building could put the lives of the people utilizing the area at risk. “We will have it checked by our structural engineers,” he said.

The warehouse was built in 1920 and was already dilapidated, said Engineer Danny Sabarre Dr. of the OBO, who rushed to the area with another engineer, Cris Miranda.

The OBO declared the warehouse unsafe and ordered its 16 tenants, mostly squash vendors from other towns, to abandon the building. It has been used as a warehouse to store squash.

Wilma Paradiang, 52, one of the tenants and employer of the two injured, said they have been renting part of the warehouse for five years.

A truck filled with squash from Mindanao arrived and entered the warehouse to unload the cargo past 1 p.m.

Paradiang, of Consolacion, said that while Largo was unloading the cargo of squash, she heard a loud crashing sound while she and Johnrex were talking.

After noticing that the roof and ceiling were about to fall, she ran out of the warehouse. Johnrex panicked and ran inside instead.

Largo was not able to get out of the warehouse and was hit by fallen debris which fractured his left foot. Reporter Fe Marie Dumaboc and Correspondent Jhunnex Napallacan, Cebu Daily News