Danger. Emergency stairs at the side of Grandview Tower have no railings thereby posing grave peril to guests.
Contributed photo
ANGELES CITY – “The main problem is the safety of guests and workers at Grandview Tower where a foreigner recently died after falling from the building’s eighth floor.”
Thus said residents here, including foreigners, as they expressed doubt over a police report that “American national Tom Miller” committed suicide on February 7, by jumping from the rooftop of the nearly completed hotel-condominium and landing on the street behind it.
A European, who lives near Grandview in Barangay Malabanias, gave the “true” identity of the victim as Norbert Walser, a 75-year-old Austrian who reportedly frequently stayed at the nearby Clarkton Hotel before he died at about 3:17 p.m. on Tuesday.
“How can the police readily conclude that it’s a suicide when they could not even properly identify the victim?
They merely used the log book of the Grandview guards to identify him,” said the European who requested anonymity “for fear of reprisal from the police.”
Grandview Tower officials were sought for their comments through the hotel’s cellphone number – 0917-5016190 – but they have yet to return call or SMS text messages as of press time.
DANGER LURKS
Walser’s death “is all the fault of Grandview for the poor construction of the building and for allowing people to stay and live there even when construction is still on-going,” a group of residents told Punto. “There is clear and present danger at the site.”
They pointed to Punto the back portion of the rooftop from where Walser allegedly jumped, falling to his death at Tamarind Street.
The front portion of the hotel-condominium is at Don Juico Avenue facing the perimeter fence of the Clark Freeport.
“Why was Walser and people other than workers been allowed to roam at the rooftop when there were no railings around the area?” they asked.
“Assuming that Walser had committed suicide, why did they allow him to roam around the hotel after drinking his coffee considering he is a mere walk-in guest?” they stressed.
“I haven’t seen a hotel or building where guests are allowed to stay at an open and unfinished roof top. Isn’t safety supposed to be paramount in construction? ,” they added.
POOR DESIGN
The residents showed to Punto the emergency stairs at the back of the hotel which they claimed as “poorly and wrongly designed.” They said the stair railings should have been constructed to protect the ones using them.
“Look at it. Workers and guests are prone to danger when they walk at the stair railings without something to hold on or to protect them should they slip and fall,” they said.
“It’s weird the stair railings are constructed near the wall of the building and not at the opposite side where they should be for practical reasons and common sense,” they added.
POLICE VERSION
In a spot report prepared by SPO2 Jose Capinpin III of the Angeles City police Station 4, investigators said “Miller” (Walser) arrived at about 3:16 p.m. at the coffee shop of Grandview Tower and had a drink.
A Grandview worker, who served the coffee of “Miller” told police that “Miller” looked “very uneasy and moving around inside.”
She added that “Miller” left the lobby after drinking his coffee. She later learned that about 3:25 p.m. “Miller” was found dead at the back of the hotel.
Mark D. Vicente, stay-in plumber at the nearby Tune Hotel, said he saw “Miller” jumped from the roof of the hotel, the spot report said. It added that “no foul play” was determined during the conduct of the investigation.
