by Vir B. Lumicao
A power bank burst into flames before noon yesterday, Oct. 16, at the Philippine Overseas Labor Office on the 16th floor of Admiral Centre Tower 1, causing a commotion and disrupting services briefly.
More than 100 people were in the office at the time but no one was injured.
“Biglang nagkagulo kanina dahil may sumabog tapos napuno ng usok diyan sa loob,” said one domestic worker who was at the scene.
A female OFW had reportedly plugged the device into an electrical outlet in the public hall to charge it at around 11am, and it exploded.
The OFW disappeared in the ensuing commotion and only the severely burnt device with the brand name Sun Standard was found at the scene, along with a scorched spot on the floor.
POLO staff led by Assistant Labor Attache Henry Tianero quickly put out the fire and rushed to the entrance to calm down the panicking workers and prevent a possible stampede.
He said the incident had been reported to Labor Attache Jalilo de la Torre and the building management.
“It’s good the owner was not holding the gadget when it exploded,” Tianero said, adding that quick response by the staff brought the situation under control within three minutes.
Tianero said he saw the owner of the power bank in the hall but could no longer locate her after the commotion.
“We failed to identify the owner because we immediately focused on controlling the power bank on fire and calming down the crowd", Tianero said.
“Nang balikan ko, wala na siya,” he said.
The incident prompted Tianero to warn OFWs against buying electrical devices of dubious quality as these pose a public hazard.
“Kindly help us forewarn our kabayans to refrain from using sub-standard power banks and other electrical gadgets,” Tianero said
