One person died and more than 50 churchgoers suffered
injuries when the balcony of St. Peter the Apostle Parish Church in Tungkong Mangga, San Jose del Monte, Bulacan collapsed during an Ash Wednesday service.
San Jose del Monte City Disaster Risk Reduction and
Management Office (CDRRMO) head Gina Ayson said the church was packed with roughly 400 visitors this morning as members of the Catholic faith marked the beginning of the Season of Lent.
An 80-year-old woman was identified as the casualty, according to an Agence France Presse (AFP) report quoting Ayson. She explained in an earlier radio interview that the floor of the church balcony was made of wood that apparently could not hold the crowding parishioners.
“Medyo bumigay po siya dahil na rin siguro sa bigat ng mga nagsisimba ngayong umaga (It collapsed because of the weight of the parishioners that flocked to the church this morning),” Ayson said.
The 30-year-old wooden gallery of the Saint Peter the Apostle church had been weakened by termites. “City building officials discovered that a section of the collapsed structure was infested with termites,” Ayson told AFP.
“It looked fine from outside. We did not know it was being eaten from the inside,” the CDRRMO chief added. Ayson noted that at least 34 individuals were immediately rushed to nearby hospitals after the accident.
The other victims, who were also mostly elderly, sustained bruises and other minor injuries.
San Jose del Monte Mayor Arthur Robes ordered the damaged church shut as investigators inspected the building’s structural safety, according to Ayson.
Pictures posted by mayor Robes on his Facebook page
showed part of the balcony’s wooden floor hanging less than a meter (3.3 feet) from the ground floor, which was littered with plastic chairs and debris.
A yellow police tape was placed across the front of the
building, built in 1994, and another photo showed a paramedic inspecting the leg of a man.
Malolos Bishop Dennis Villarojo released an official statement regretting the incident. He said those affected and their families are being assisted by the Diocese of Malolos with parish priest Fr. Romulo Perez and his parochial vicar Fr. Divino Cayanan.
“The City authorities are currently investigating the incident and the parish church is closed until further notice. I have also instructed all parish priests to check their parish structures, considering the great number of faithful coming every year to Lenten celebrations,” Bishop Villarojo stated.
“We pray for the eternal repose of the faithful departed and we offer our sincere condolences and assurance of assistance to the family. As we pray for healing and consolation to all those affected, we invoke the consoling motherly care of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the steadfast faith of St. Peter,” he added. –With AFP