Camille Naredo

An aerial view and rescue teams conducting clearing operations around the collapsed nine-storey building under construction in Balibago, Angeles, Pampanga on May 24, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News

An aerial view and rescue teams conducting clearing operations around the collapsed nine-storey building under construction in Balibago, Angeles, Pampanga on May 24, 2026.

Article (news)

PAMPANGA

<div><span class="fr-img-caption fr-fic fr-dib" style="width:960px;display:block" width="960"><span class="fr-img-wrap"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1779617138486viber_image_2026-05-24_14-24-42-678.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" alt="An aerial view and rescue teams conducting clearing operations around the collapsed nine-storey building under construction in Balibago, Angeles, Pampanga on May 24, 2026. Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">An aerial view and rescue teams conducting clearing operations around the collapsed nine-storey building under construction in Balibago, Angeles, Pampanga on May 24, 2026. <em>Maria Tan, ABS-CBN News</em></span></span></span></div><p>ANGELES CITY (<strong>2nd UPDATE</strong>) -- Rescuers were racing on Sunday to free two workers pinned under a building that collapsed in the northern Philippines, killing a Malaysian man and leaving 20 people missing.</p><p>The search for survivors continued as night fell, with firemen shining small lights into the rubble for signs of life.</p><p>Twenty-six people have been rescued so far after the nine-storey building collapsed in Angeles City, 80 kilometres (50 miles) north of the capital Manila.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2026/5/24/9-story-building-collapses-in-angeles-pampanga-19-safe-up-to-40-missing-0827">READ: 9-story building collapses in Angeles, Pampanga; 19 safe, up to 40 missing</a></div><p>The disaster also damaged a nearby hotel and killed a 65-year-old Malaysian guest, Mohd Rezal bin Abdullah, officials said.</p><p>The man, from Malaysia&#x27;s northern Sabah state, had managed to communicate with rescuers by phone while pinned under a hotel wall shortly after the collapse at 3:00 am Sunday (1900 GMT Saturday), acting Philippine fire chief Rico Kwan Tiu told AFP.</p><p>&quot;Unfortunately, when we retrieved him just now, he was already lifeless,&quot; he added. &quot;We are trying to rescue two (workers)&quot; from the nine-storey building, Kwan Tiu said. &quot;They are conscious but pinned underneath.&quot;</p><p>The Malaysian national&#x27;s body was recovered from Room 101 on the second floor of the hotel. According to Kwan Tiu, the victim was pinned down by steel bars and other debris while lying on his bed.</p><p>&quot;Noong makita siya ng mga rescuer natin, between bed, nahati yung katawan niya sa bed saka sa pababa, yung nabagsakan sa kanya sa baba, yung upper extremities niya nasa ibabaw pa ng bed, so yung ginawa po ng ating mga rescuers dahan-dahang nilinis yung ilalim, kinuha yung mga debris para mailusot siya,&quot; Kwan Tiu told members of the media.</p><p>The foreign national&#x27;s companions staying in other hotel rooms were able to escape.</p><p>City Mayor Carmelo Lazatin told reporters &quot;almost all of (those inside the collapsed building) were asleep because this happened in the early hours of the morning&quot;.</p><p>Rescuers posted footage on the regional fire service&#x27;s Facebook page showing a fireman using a power tool to try to free a man in a blue shirt who moaned in pain beneath a scaffolding of metal tubes and plyboard.</p><p>&quot;Relax, brother,&quot; the fireman is heard telling the victim.</p><p>Another clip showed firemen in orange helmets and clothing inserting themselves through narrow gaps among rubble in an attempt to find other trapped workers.</p><p>The cause of the collapse is yet to be determined.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Loud noise&#x27; -</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="960" height="540" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/HrnjV0lBlTg?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span></div><p>Delivery rider James Bernardo, 30, told AFP by telephone he had just dropped off food on the same street when the disaster unfolded.</p><p>&quot;A few seconds later, there was suddenly a loud noise in the area, and when I looked, I realized that (the building) had already collapsed,&quot; Bernardo said.</p><p>&quot;Thank God I&#x27;m safe.&quot;</p><p>A video clip taken by Bernardo and verified by AFP showed a giant pile of twisted steel beams, power pylons and slabs of concrete blocking the street as fellow witnesses took photographs with their phones.</p><p>In the clip, Bernardo can be heard saying, &quot;We thought it was an earthquake, but it turned out it was the building (collapsing).&quot;</p><p>City information officer Jay Pelayo told AFP the nine-storey building&#x27;s walls and scaffolding had buckled, likely trapping people in a pile of debris.</p><p>&quot;There are big chunks of concrete and we need equipment to lift them up. That is what&#x27;s challenging for the rescue right now,&quot; Pelayo said.</p><p>Rescuers working at the disaster site did not have powerful flood lights to help them locate those trapped under the rubble, AFP journalists saw.</p><p>The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority sent rescue equipment and police dogs to aid the rescue, its general manager Nicolas Torre told AFP.</p><p>&quot;We also deployed life monitors, listening devices and also our rescue spreaders to help the rescuers since many debris need to be cut and lifted to locate people,&quot; Torre said.</p><p>Meanwhile, the Philippine National Police said it is in close coordination with local authorities and emergency response units, and advised the public to avoid the area.</p><p>As of 1:52 p.m. on Sunday, a total of 175 PNP personnel are on the ground working alongside the Bureau of Fire Protection, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Angeles City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, and local government units.</p><p>-- <strong>with a report from Dennis Datu, ABS-CBN News</strong></p><div><strong><br/></strong></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO:</strong></div><div><span class="fr-video fr-deletable fr-fvc fr-dvb fr-draggable" contenteditable="false" draggable="true"><iframe width="960" height="540" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/OszxZDH3CCE?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div><div><br/></div><div><br/></div>

<p>A Malaysian man has been killed as a building collapsed in Brgy. Balibago, Angeles City in Pampanga on Sunday, partially crushing an adjacent hotel and trapping construction workers who screamed in pain as rescuers attempted to pull them from beneath the rubble, officials said.</p>

A Malaysian man has been killed as a building collapsed in Brgy. Balibago, Angeles City in Pampanga on Sunday, partially crushing an adjacent hotel and trapping construction workers who screamed in pain as rescuers attempted to pull them from beneath the rubble, officials said.

Malaysian national confirmed dead in Angeles City building collapse

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Malaysian national confirmed dead in Angeles City building collapse

Ted Aljibe,

Agence France-Presse

Published May 24, 2026 06:09 PM PHT

|

Updated May 24, 2026 11:00 PM PHT

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Balibago

Building

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Malaysian national

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