Six injured in theater roof collapse in the Philippines

CEBU, Philippines -- Six people were reported hurt Monday night in Cebu, Philippines when parts of the ceiling of an Ayala Center Cebu cinema room collapsed after intense water leakage.

The 350 people were in the room were attending a brand relaunch event organized by Dreamscape Networks, an IT company based with offices in Cebu, Perth, Singapore, Ukraine and Dubai. The cinema was located in a newly constructed extenstion building.

"The event commenced at 7:50pm and at approximately 8:49pm an explosion was heard from within the roof - with sparks seen overhead," recalls Dreamscape Networks CEO Mark Evans. "There was a very loud rumble, before water was heard, and a few drops were felt from below. At that moment, water then began gushing in a torrent from the ceiling, soaking everyone in their seats."

According to Evans, there there was as no alarm sounded, or information given from the Ayala employees.

"Everyone had started to evacuate themselves without assistance or instruction. The water started to flow even faster, and was now gushing like large, powerful waterfalls, and we were shocked by the volume of the water," he says in a statement.

Eventually, according to Evans, the lights went out and two-thirds of the ceiling collapsed and fell on the seats below. "People were caught under the collapsing ceiling, and a few managed to crawl upwards to safety along the ground, and towards the top of the cinema where our Global Support Manager John hurried staff and guests out a single exit door by the viewing box."

He continues: "I was fortunate to avoid the dropped ceiling at the bottom of the cinema, and so began looking for people trapped under the waterlogged, wrangled mess of a ceiling. I picked up one girl called MJ, and told her to get out of the cinema as she was much disorientated. I then lifted other parts of the ceiling up, and - with the help of Jaycee, one of my employees - released another girl who had also been trapped."

Evans claims he cried out for help from the Ayala Security staff, but they "had run away from the scene and were too scared to enter the cinema. I called out to them to help us, but they hid in the exit laneway, and didn't offer any help. I shouted for the water mains pipe to be turned off, as water was still gushing very heavily at this stage. We had no emergency lighting, and no alarm had sounded. In the dark and without help, while water still poured down from the ceiling, we had to continue to break through parts of the ceiling, in search for people trapped."

He says the Ayala staff took at least 15 minutes before they switched the mains water off. "At this point, some Ayala staff started to turn up within the cinema, but had no idea what to do, or where to start. I told them I wanted every single seat checked for people, and that I wasn't leaving until it was done. I refused to leave the scene until I knew my guests were safe and accounted for. Meanwhile we conducted head counts outside to make sure nobody was missing."

Almost half an hour had passed before emergency staff arrived at the scene, and they arrived without tools, and were completely unequipped, says Evans. "I was shouting for them to get the cutters, so we could cut the steel and start removing portions of the ceiling, but they looked at each other dumbfounded."

He continues: "The Ayala GM introduced herself outside on the rooftop, and had nothing valuable to say as she barely said a word. Ayala staff were actively seen stopping people from taking videos and photos, and trying to usher them out of the way. They made no apology, and had no consideration for what had happened."

Evans says he has yet to personally hear from Ayala Management at this point in time. As of this writing, Ayala Center Cebu has posted four updates on it Facebook Page. In the latest version, it claims that "based on initial findings, the sprinkler system released water that caused the acoustic boards to fall" and that they are further investigating the case.

"There were nine wounded persons, five of whom are now in the hospital and await medical clearance," it says, adding that the mall's Emergency Brigade Team had immediately responded to clear the area.

Says Evans: "This has been a very traumatic experience for my staff, and this negligence has caused undue stress and injuries to my staff, their partners, and our guests. We will be visiting our staff this afternoon in hospitals and making sure they are taken care of. Ayala Management have called one of my managers, and offered to take care of the medical bills. We have declined their offer at this point in time."

Ayala Center Cebu says it regrets that such an incident happened.