At least one person died and 53 were injured when a balcony collapsed in a church full of worshipers during the Ash Wednesday celebration in the Philippines, local authorities reported.
Gina Ayson, head of Civil Defense of San José del Monte, confirmed the death of an 80-year-old woman due to serious injuries to her chest. The other victims, mostly elderly, suffered bruises and minor cuts.
Approximately 400 people were in the church of St. Peter the Apostle when a section of the wooden floor collapsed. Ruben Fortun, head of municipal disaster management, mentioned that the overloading of the balcony could have been the cause of the accident.
Preliminary investigations revealed that a section of the collapsed structure was infested with termites, according to the Civil Defense spokesperson to the AFP agency. “It looked good from the outside. “We didn’t know they were eating it from the inside,” she added.
Mayor Arthur Robes ordered the church temporarily closed while investigators conduct a thorough inspection of the building’s structural safety.
Images posted by the mayor on Facebook show part of the wooden balcony hanging less than a meter from the ground, littered with church pews, broken chairs and debris. A paramedic is also seen assisting an injured man.
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