Angeles City — Fierce thunderstorm may the caused of a nine-story building that was under construction collapsed early hours of oSunday, 24 May 2026 in Angeles City, north of Manila, in the Philippines, killing at least one Malaysian tourist and leaving at least 21 people —mostly construction workers— trapped beneath the rubbles and rescuers keep searching for victims.
The building came down around 2:30 a.m. local time in a crowded neighborhood of budget hotels, cafes, spas, and lodging houses in Angeles City, Pampanga Province.
At least 24 workers either managed to escape or were pulled out alive after the structure crumbled to the ground. Two survivors were located alive inside the debris but could not be immediately extricated.
Authorities said most of the workers had been sleeping on the ground floor when the structure gave way.
Philippine Public Works Secretary Vinzon Dizon, who went to the scene, told reporters that rescuers were proceeding with extreme caution given the instability of the site.
"There are some signs of life... There are voices that are being heard," he said. "It's a very, very unstable site and the priority is the safety of the rescuers as well."
Police Brigadier General Jess Mendez said more than 100 police officers and government personnel had been deployed to the scene. About 100 rescuers, including firefighters, police, and disaster-response teams, have been using their bare hands and sniffer dogs in a dangerous scramble through concrete slabs and twisted iron bars to reach the trapped victims.
Francis Pangilinan, head of Angeles City's disaster mitigation office, confirmed that of the 21 people are still unaccounted as of Sunday morning, the majority were believed to be construction workers who had been living on site, a common practice at active building projects across the Philippines.
The collapse has drawn attention to construction safety standards in the country, particularly around the practice of allowing workers to sleep inside unfinished structures. No cause for the collapse has been officially confirmed, though authorities said the severe thunderstorm that preceded it is under investigation as a contributing factor. The building's owner and developer have yet to make a public statement.***
