Camille Naredo

Search and retrieval operations continue at the collapsed building in Angeles City, Pampanga. Handout/BFP Central Luzon

Article (news)

Angeles City

Dennis Datu

ABS-CBN News

<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/1780497105503viber_image_2026-06-03_16-25-04-597.jpg" style="width:960px" class="fr-fic fr-dib" width="960"/><span class="fr-inner" style="text-align:left">Search and retrieval operations continue at the collapsed building in Angeles City, Pampanga. <em>Handout/BFP Central Luzon</em></span></span></span></div><p>ANGELES CITY, Pampanga -- More bodies have been recovered by members of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) as search operations intensify for victims believed to remain trapped beneath massive slabs of concrete and twisted steel from the collapsed nine-story building in Balibago, Angeles City.</p><p>Six additional bodies were recovered from Wednesday morning until late evening, bringing the death toll to 27 since the under-construction building collapsed in the early hours of Sunday, May 24.</p><p>However, the Unified Command System has yet to release the identities, ages, and genders of the recovered victims, as many of the bodies have already begun to decompose.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2026/6/3/mother-in-grief-as-son-remains-missing-in-building-collapse-1233">READ: Mother in grief as son remains missing in Pampanga building collapse</a></div><p>All recovered remains are immediately subjected to Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) procedures.</p><p>The number of bodies recovered has now exceeded the initial list of 20 missing construction workers reported after the collapse.</p><p>Among those recovered on Tuesday were an adult female found beside a young male and an infant, reinforcing earlier reports that some construction workers were staying in the site barracks with their families.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2026/6/2/baby-found-in-rubble-as-angeles-city-building-collapse-death-toll-rises-to-21-2156">READ: Baby found in rubble as Angeles City building collapse death toll rises to 21</a></div><p>According to Jay Pelayo, head of the Public Information Office of the Angeles City local government, search, rescue, retrieval, and clearing operations will continue as authorities believe more victims may still be buried beneath the rubble.</p><p>&quot;The operations are continuing non-stop because we are still recovering victims from the collapsed structure,&quot; Pelayo said.</p><p>&quot;There are accounts from survivors indicating that it was not only construction workers who were inside the site. Some reportedly had their families and children with them, and it appears that these are among the victims we are recovering now,&quot; he added.</p><p>Authorities have yet to determine when clearing operations at the collapsed building will be completed. Pelayo said that based on the latest report from the BFP, only about 20 percent of the clearing operations have been completed so far.</p><p>The family of one of the fatalities has <a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/regions/2026/6/3/charges-filed-against-owners-contractors-of-collapsed-angeles-city-building-0055">filed a complaint against the owners of the building</a> before the Angeles City Prosecutor&#x27;s Office.</p><p>Maricel Sapungay of Marilao, Bulacan filed a complaint for reckless imprudence resulting in homicide against Ernest Jackson Lim, owner of the building under construction; Johnson Cu, owner, contractor, and incorporator of Golden Years Construction and Steelworks; Engr. Arlou Nondong Ligsanan, also known as Engr. Arlo Managsil, the site engineer; and several unidentified John and Jane Does.</p><p>Sapungay is a relative of 19-year-old Mark Lawrence, the second victim recovered from the rubble.</p><p>The complaint was filed even after Atty. Willie Rivera, legal counsel for the building owner, offered  an out-of-court  settlement to the  families of victims.</p><div><br/></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/07inteEzZrs?&amp;wmode=opaque&amp;rel=0" frameBorder="0" allowfullscreen="" class="fr-draggable"></iframe></span><br/></div>

<p>Six additional bodies were recovered from Wednesday morning until late evening, bringing the death toll to 27 since the under-construction building collapsed in the early hours of Sunday, May 24.</p>

Six additional bodies were recovered from Wednesday morning until late evening, bringing the death toll to 27 since the under-construction building collapsed in the early hours of Sunday, May 24.

Death toll climbs to 27 as more bodies recovered from Angeles City building collapse

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Death toll climbs to 27 as more bodies recovered from Angeles City building collapse

Dennis Datu,

ABS-CBN News

Published June 03, 2026 10:46 PM PHT

|

Updated June 03, 2026 10:56 PM PHT

Read More:

Angeles City

Pampanga

building collapse

search and retrieval operations

Bureau of Fire Protection

BFP Central Luzon

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