Photo by MDRRMO-Malapatan
GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews / 30 October) – Sixteen people, including children, were injured when a rundown steel footbridge serving as link to a polling center in a village in Malapatan, Sarangani province collapsed Sunday evening.
A report from the Malapatan Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (MDRRMO) said it received a call at 6:48 p.m. that the footbridge in Sitio Hilado Compound, Barangay Daan Suyan suddenly gave way while some residents were crossing to another side of the village.
The footbridge, which was already rusty and dilapidated, connects the village to Daan Suyan Integrated School.
“There were reportedly a number of people crossing the footbridge that time due to preparations for the voting at the school, and their weight could have caused one of the steel cables to break,” an MDRRMO staff member, who requested anonymity, told MindaNews on the phone.
The footbridge lost its balance and tilted to another side, causing some people to fall into the river, she said.
Mark Christopher Quiño, Malapatan MDRRM officer, said in a report that no fatalities were recorded in the incident, contrary to initial social media posts.
He added that all the 16 injured were immediately brought to the Sarangani Health Care Facility in Alabel town.
Aside from the Malapatan MDRRMO team, quick response units from the Sarangani Provincial DRRMO, MDRRMO Alabel, Malapatan police station and emergency medical technician-trained town councilor Brandy Palarion responded to the incident.
Malapatan Mayor Salway Sumbo directed the provision of emergency assistance and other necessary resources for the victims.
As of 7 a.m. Monday, 12 of the victims were already discharged while four were still confined at the Doctor’s Hospital in this city.
The country held Monday the nationwide Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan elections. (Allen V. Estabillo / MindaNews)
