Chemical leak seen as possible cause of death of Lipa workers

Lipa City police said four construction workers, who were found lifeless inside a rainwater catchment, may have died from an underground chemical leak, GMA News' Marisol Abdurahman reported Wednesday on "24 Oras."

Jimuel Dimaculangan and three others were killed while building a rainwater storage tank in Barangay San Francisco in Lipa City, Batangas.

According to the report, Dimaculangan's ninth-grade daughter Jernie was seen trying her best to study for a Science Quiz Bee contest during her father's wake.

"Gagawin ko 'to para sa 'yo, pipilitin ko talagang makapasok," she said.

Police said the victims had been dead for at least a day by the time they were discovered on Tuesday.

"Hindi sila nakahinga doon sa ilalim noong water storage. Maaring less na 'yung oxygen na pumapasok doon sa lugar," Lipa City police chief Superintendent Meliton Salvador said.

However, a pungent smell inside the chamber led the police to conduct an investigation into another probable cause of death other than suffocation. 

"Meron din siya talagang kakaibang amoy. Siguro yung ginagamit doon sa... pag-dikit sa mga PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) pipes. Hindi natin masabi pa kung ano," Salvador added. — Margaret Claire Layug/BAP, GMA News