One hurt as hill caves-in in Cebu City

By Ronron
June 13, 2007

A construction worker was hurt when a portion of a hill in Cebu City where he is working caved in on Wednesday morning.

Disaster officials said the incident happened at around 10:20 am in the mountainous village of Budlaan, located some 30 kilometers away from the city proper.

Office of Civil Defense – Region VII Director Angel Gaviola said some 15 to 20 construction workers were doing excavation works when a portion of the hill caved in, partially burying Bernie Antolihao.

Antolihao was saved by his fellow workers and brought to North General Hospital in said city by members of a private emergency response unit.

The other workers were unharmed, Gaviola said.

Gaviola said the workers were developing the area for a school expansion at the time of the accident. The lot is owned by the Marie Ernestine School.

He said there were no students during the accident since classes in said school have yet to start.

“Barangay Budlaan is one of our identified landslide-prone areas here in Cebu City because of the soft soil in the area. And then, the last few nights, it always rains here so this could have triggered the cave-in incident,” Gaviola said in Cebuano.

The incident prompted school officials to temporary stop the excavation works at the site, said Gaviola./DMS