Santa Mesa street section, hospital wall collapse after heavy rain

A portion of 3rd Street in Santa Mesa, Manila, and a nearby hospital wall collapsed due to last week's heavy rain.

According to Vonne Aquino’s Sunday report on 24 Oras Weekend, the debris fell into a construction site of a commercial building.

The floor of a warehouse beside the construction site also sank.

“Siguro mga 11 to 11:45 ‘yun. ‘Boom,’ ‘yun na. ‘Di ako lumabas kasi baka kung ano’ng mangyari e. Siyempre mga pamilya ko, natutulog. Kailangan maproteksyunan kami rito at saka malaking abala,” a resident said.

A barangay official said they had already closed off 3rd Street in July to avoid accidents.

“Naglagay kami ng ‘Do not enter’ [sign]. We right away projected what may happen… I called Maynilad,” a local official said.

She added that personnel from the City Engineer’s Office inspected the affected areas after they were notified by barangay authorities.

The contractor told GMA News that the retaining walls of the basement were already near completion but construction was delayed by the community quarantine.

They added that an extensive soil protection system was placed in a portion of 3rd Street that was affected by the construction activities, but the road still collapsed because it was old and had many cracks that allowed rainwater to enter.

The contractor vowed to pay for the repairs of all damages.

No one was injured in the incident. — Julia Mari Ornedo/DVM, GMA News