Nine-Storey Building Under Construction Collapses in Angeles City

A nine-storey building under construction collapsed before dawn Sunday in Angeles City, Pampanga province, after a fierce thunderstorm. Twenty-four workers reached safety or were rescued, while 21 others remained unaccounted for, police and other officials said.

Rescuers including firefighters, police and disaster-response teams searched the rubble using their hands and sniffer dogs. Public Works Secretary Vinzon Dizon told reporters that voices were being heard from beneath the concrete slabs and twisted iron bars.

More than 100 police and other government personnel worked at the site, police Brig. Gen. Jess Mendez said. Officials reported no immediate deaths, though some of those who escaped sustained injuries. Francis Pangilinan, who heads Angeles City's disaster mitigation office, said most of the missing were believed to be workers at the building.

Two other people, including a Malaysian tourist, were injured when debris struck their lodgings. Dizon said rescuers were moving with extreme caution because the site remained unstable. "There are some signs of life ... There are voices that are being heard," he told reporters near the debris.

U.S. Air Force bases outside the American mainland until it closed in the early 1990s. The former base, now called the Clark Freeport Zone, lies about 80 kilometres north of Metro Manila.