ffin''inm,all

Lack of safety ge ar leads

to harrowing deaths
Byleannette l. Andrade

Septic

slipped offhis body," the investigator said.

Suarez's father Romy, brother Rommel,
and Aleman then tried to lower a lad-

LACK of safety nets and a res_

cue attempt thut went awry led ffi-r!}|jl:L?,X"J"o

9 :l:

tank

useless since it was

11,Y{:11'
:,T,
3?::*iil3#ffifi",;H:ilit#il::f"ffi :x:
trageoles
worKprace
harrowlng ::

in the

metfOpOliS

in fecent

memory.

A 50-year-old plumber, his two ions,

ly about rhree feet by'three"feet_ but"they

also ended up trapped underneath. They

*:,+ff1x:X'l,,Ti1l'ii,.?"i;l[T?'lf,i"i*;

and filth that the four victims could

hardly

sep-

move," the investigator added.

Cubao, Their bodies were recovered at around 6
a.m. in a joint effort by the Bureau of Fire
Quezon City, before dawn Thursday.
The victims were identified as Romy Protection, the Metropolitan Manila DevelSuarez; his sons Rommel, 23, and Rodel, opment Authority the Quezon City Red
20; and,their coworker Marvin Al eman,24; Cross, and barangay officials.
all residents ofBarangay Santolan in Pasig
.t
City and employees oinbec Plumbing Serl Deadly methane
The rerieval took that long also because
vices owned by Helen Caragan.
An investigation showed that Rodel of the stench and thickness of the wasteSuarez was the first to get trapped in the wate4 the officer noted.
tank and the three otheis were also killed "I saw a member of the BFP wearing a
gas mask'who went into the tank and come
when they tried to iescue him.
out gasping for air in 5 minutes because the
Ali
Mall
Hours before the incident, an
a coworker drowned in a 10-foot-deep
tic tank at a major shopping mall in

tenant reported a problem in the drainage methane gas dovrn there was just too
system, prompting the management to call much," he said.
The victims didn't have any protective
for RCBC's services.
gear
on and were actually half-naked when
employed
At around 3 a.m., an engineer
by the mall assisted the workers in siphon- theywent to work.

which Noting this, the QCPD-CIDU requested

Rodel Suarez was lowered into the tank for the city engineerrs office to conduct further
him to manually unclog a pipe. Suarez was investigation into the incident, the results
ing the water off the tank, after

only in his underwear, with a rope

around his

body.

tied

"He apparently was able to unclog the

system, causing the trapped water to
rush into the tank," according to PO2
Alvin Quisumbing of the Quezon City Police District's Criminal Investigation and
Detection

Unit.

companions tried to pull him out but his body

had become so slippery that even the rope
AS the

wastewater rose quickly, "his

k
%

k
.==o
o

E.

;x

of which could be used to press charges

against liable parties.

Reached for comment by the INQutneR,
city engineer Joselito Cabungcal said the
workers should have at least been given
full-body suits, gas masks and harnesses.

"It was expected that the tank would

have high levels of methane and the water
itself would be toxic. They should have
been fully equipped," he said, adding that
his office would conduet its own probe.

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