Angeles building collapse kills Malaysian, traps 20
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- The nine‑storey building collapsed at around 03:00 local time on Sunday while still under construction in Angeles, a city near Manila.
- Rescue teams have recovered 24 people from the collapsed building site and two from a nearby hotel struck by debris.
- A 65‑year‑old Malaysian man staying at the hotel was confirmed dead after communicating with rescuers by phone while pinned under a wall.
- Construction workers are believed to be among the roughly 20 people feared trapped under the rubble.
- City information officer Jay Pelayo said the building’s walls and surrounding scaffolding buckled, leaving large concrete chunks that require heavy equipment to lift.
- Fire chief Rico Kwan Tiu reported that five people have been confirmed trapped, two of whom have contacted rescuers.
- Research indicates that construction work in the Philippines often suffers from poor planning and design errors, a broader safety concern highlighted by the collapse.
Why it matters: The collapse underscores the lethal risk of inadequate construction oversight in the Philippines, costing a foreign national’s life and endangering dozens of workers, while straining local rescue resources and exposing systemic safety gaps; officials say heavy‑equipment is needed to lift massive concrete debris, a shortfall that could drive tighter building standards.
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