Manila:
A Catholic church balcony collapsed, killing an elderly woman and injuring 53 during a packed Mass in the Philippines on Ash Wednesday, when millions of Filipinos turned out for services, local disaster officials said.
This day is one of the busiest dates on the church calendar and marks the start of Lent in the Catholic outpost of Asia.
An 80-year-old woman died of chest injuries at a local hospital, Gina Ayson, civil defense chief of San Jose del Monte, near Manila, told AFP.
The 30-year-old wooden gallery of St. Peter the Apostle Church had been weakened by termites, she said.
It collapsed during Mass, apparently due to the extra weight, sending churchgoers plummeting to the main floor aisle below, Ayson said.
“City construction officials discovered that part of the collapsed structure was infested with termites,” she told AFP.
“It looked fine from the outside. We didn't know it was being eaten from the inside.”
The other victims, who were also mostly elderly, suffered bruises and other minor injuries, she said, adding that about 400 people were attending the mass at the time.
Mayor Arthur Robes ordered the damaged church closed while investigators inspected the building's structural safety, Ayson said.
Photos Robes posted on his Facebook page showed part of the wooden balcony hanging less than a meter from the ground floor and littered with pews, broken plastic chairs and debris.
Yellow police tape could be seen across the front of the building, built in 1994, while another photo showed a paramedic rendering aid to a man.
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