ANGELES CITY, Pampanga — A massive search-and-rescue operation is underway in Barangay Balibago following the sudden collapse of a nine-story building under construction before dawn on Sunday, May 24, 2026.
The incident occurred between 2:00 a.m. and 3:45 a.m. along Teodoro Street following heavy rains and a fierce thunderstorm in the region. The structure, which had been under construction for over two years, caved in on itself and heavily damaged an adjacent apartment-style hotel.
At least 26 individuals have been successfully pulled from the wreckage so far. Local authorities reported that 24 of the survivors were rescued directly from the collapsed structure, while two others were saved from the damaged neighboring lodge.
Unfortunately, officials have confirmed at least one fatality: a male Malaysian national who was a person with disability (PWD) staying in the adjacent lodging.
A unified command system—composed of over 100 personnel from the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and local disaster management teams—is working continuously at the scene. The Philippine Red Cross (PRC) has also set up a first aid station and welfare desks to offer immediate medical care and psychosocial support.
Rescuers have utilized listening devices, life monitors, and sniffer dogs, noting that they have heard screams and voices crying out for help from beneath the unstable debris.
"There are some signs of life... There are voices that are being heard. It's a very, very unstable site and the priority is to get the people out," stated Public Works Secretary Vince Dizon, emphasizing the delicate nature of the manual clearing operations.
Angeles City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin II and other top officials are on-site overseeing the response. While local authorities are prioritizing the retrieval of the estimated 20 to 23 individuals still unaccounted for, the city engineering office will conduct a thorough probe into the structural integrity and history of the building once rescue efforts conclude.
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