Drilling starts at collapsed grocery in Padada as no more signs of life detected

Amid the dimmed chances of finding a survivor under the wreckage of a grocery store that collapsed due to the magnitude 6.9 earthquake that hit Davao del Sur on Sunday, rescuers started to drill into the three-storey establishment on Tuesday.

According to a report by Darlene Cay in GMA News TV's Balitanghali, no more signs of life are being detected by the authorities.

Retrieval operations have commenced and the top-most layer of the ill-fated shop is being broken down by a hydraulic breaker to allow easier access to it.

The body of grocery salesperson Emily Beloy—the one who texted her friend that there were six of them trapped—was the third to be extricated on Monday night, the authorities said.

Contrary to the initial information that there were six still missing under the rubble, Bureau of Fire Protection Region 11 Director Fred Trajeras said that they are looking for just one more.

There were no bodies found near that of Emily, he said.

He stressed that all the employees of the grocery store have already been accounted for and no other families reported that a relative was missing.

Trajeras said that the rescue team is looking for the source of the signs of life that were detected by their equipment during the operation on Monday.

Rescuers are not sure whether the said source was a person or an animal but the device currently registers only negative results.

The earthquake hit the province at 2:11 p.m. on Sunday, with its epicenter nine kilometers west of Matanao at a depth of three kilometers. The temblor was also felt in nearby provinces including Sarangani and Cotabato and in General Santos City and Davao City.

President Rodrigo Duterte was with his family in Davao City when the earthquake struck; the Palace later confirmed that they were safe and unharmed.

The death toll has reached seven as of Tuesday, all in Davao del Sur: one in Matanao, one in Magsaysay, one in Hagonoy, one in Bansalan, and three in Padada. — Dona Magsino/BM, GMA News