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MANILA, Philipines (2nd UPDATED) – A crane from a construction site in Makati City toppled over a street in Salcedo Village on Thursday, May 26, hurting at least two people and knocking out power in the area.
The incident happened at around 7:50 am in H.V. dela Costa street, while the crane was being set up in the construction site of A.M. Oreta Construction Company.
The crane cut through power cables and knocked down two telecommunications posts, and 5 electric poles, one of which fell on a passing cab. A parked car was also damaged.
A.M Oreta said in a statement that at least two people were hurt in the incident – a taxi driver and a cyclist.
The Makati mayor’s office identified the cyclist as 40-year old Romeo Lopez, who suffered from pain on his left shoulder and abrasions on the knees and elbows. Taxi driver Ramon Romirosa, 47, showed signs of spinal injury, it added.
A.M Oreta said the two were brought to the Makati Medical Center for treatment and their medical expenses would be shouldered by the construction company.
“We are currently conducting our own investigation on the cause of the collapse. We are cooperating with authorities….A.M Oreta would like to apologize to those affected by this accident,” the construction firm added.
Peña orders halt in construction
Makati Mayor Kid Peña has ordered a thorough investigation on the incident and ordered a halt in the operations on the Salcedo SkySuites, a Megaworld project, pending the investigation.
“We are determined to establish what exactly went wrong and who should be liable for the unfortunate incident. Although nobody died, still there were people injured. Public safety is the foremost concern of the city government, and we will not tolerate negligence and non-compliance with our construction laws and standards,” Peña said.
The investigation will determine whether the construction firm observed standard operating procedures, and the cause of the accident.
Meanwhile, Meralco Spokesperson Joe Zaldarriaga said on the sidelines of a forum in Quezon City that the firm’s crew is already on site to restore power within 5 to 8 hours.
“Time of incident is around 7:45 am. We received word that a crane came down and damaged our facilities, particularly 5 posts. Meralco crew is on the site to make sure the damaged facilities are repaired as soon as possible,” he added.
“There were some property damaged. There’s no electricity there. It’s an unfortunate incident. Because of the intensity of the damage, restoration will take about 5-8 hours,” Zaldarriaga said.
H.V. dela Costa has been temporarily closed to traffic. – with a report from Chrisee Dela Paz/Rappler.com
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