Cebu City officials inspect mall cinema, ask questions after ceiling collapse

Cebu City officials on Tuesday raised safety questions as they inspected a mall cinema, a part of whose ceiling collapsed on Monday night.

One question sought to know why it took so long for rescue personnel to get inside the cinema, GMA Cebu's Nikko Sereno reported.

Nine people were reported injured after a part of the drop ceiling of Cinema 5 of Ayala Center Cebu collapsed. Cinema 5 is the mall's newest cinema.

Two of the injured were initially identified as Cecilia Ladesa, 26 (head injury); and Ryan Orbe, 31 (minor shoulder injury).

The management said in a text message sent to GMA Cebu's Nikko Sereno that a sprinkler system may have "released water that caused the acoustic boards to fall."

But Cebu City councilor Dave Tumulak said their initial findings suggested accumulated water from the air-conditioning system may have caused part of the ceiling to collapse.

He also asked why some rescue personnel had difficulty getting inside the mall building.

On Tuesday morning, the city Office of the Building Official inspected the area.

For its part, the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office asked business establishments with centralized air-conditioning to hold regular maintenance to prevent a similar incident.

Meanwhile, no official from Dreamscape—the company that rented Cinema 5 for Monday night—was available for comment. — Joel Locsin/BM, GMA News