The death toll in the collapse of a building under construction in Barangay Balibago on May 24 rose to 21 after responders recovered the body of an infant from the rubble on Tuesday afternoon.
According to the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) Central Luzon, the infant's body was retrieved at around 6:01 p.m. from Quadrant 2 of the collapsed structure. Authorities have yet to determine the child's gender.
The infant was among eight victims recovered throughout the day, making Tuesday one of the deadliest days since retrieval operations began.
Earlier, responders recovered three bodies between 1:56 a.m. and 4:08 a.m. A dog's remains were also recovered at around 1:34 a.m.
In the afternoon, rescuers located and retrieved three more victims from beneath the debris. What initially appeared to be an operation to recover a single victim led to the discovery of two additional bodies nearby. The three victims — believed to be a man, a woman, and a young girl — were extricated in quick succession between 1:13 p.m. and 1:19 p.m.
The recovered victims have yet to be identified.
According to Angeles City Public Information Office chief Jay Pelayo, the recovery of women and children from the collapse site supports earlier reports that some construction workers were staying in temporary barracks with their families when the building gave way.
All recovered bodies were turned over to the City Health Office for proper handling, documentation, and disaster victim identification procedures.
Although the Unified Command Center's list of missing persons has been reduced to zero, authorities emphasized that search and retrieval operations will continue as several victims recovered from the site were not included in the original missing persons list.
Search, rescue, retrieval, and clearing operations remain ongoing around the clock as responders continue to carefully remove debris while observing strict safety protocols.
Meanwhile, Angeles City Mayor Carmelo "Jon" Lazatin extended his condolences to the families of the victims as the city continues to mourn the tragedy.
