Public safety
Carbon Monoxide Found Where Three Dusit Thani Davao Workers Died, but Cause Still Open
October 9, 2026 · Joshua S Bariñan
The deaths of three young engineers at a Lanang hotel and residence tower have left the Bureau of Fire Protection, the Davao City Police Office and the Department of Labor and Employment each working a separate piece of the same question: what killed them inside a cramped sewage lifting station before dawn on a Monday. The hotel has suspended all similar work. The families say they want the truth about whether safety measures were in place.
Reuben James Ramos, 30, Rexter Banal, 27, and Lance Molijon, 26, engineering staff of Dusit Thani Residence Davao, were found dead in the property's sewage treatment lifting station early on October 5, 2026. Firefighters measured 50 parts per million of carbon monoxide inside, but both the BFP and police say the cause of death will be settled by autopsy, not by the gas reading.
What happened before dawn
The Davao City Fire District logged the call at 2:36 in the morning. The initial report described a gas leak, so the response was treated as a hazardous materials and confined space incident. Central 911 and the Sasa Fire Station reached the property first. The BFP Special Rescue Force arrived at 3:25.
Rescuers found three men inside the lifting station of the building's sewage treatment plant. A gas monitor read 50 parts per million of carbon monoxide. The teams ventilated the chamber before anyone went in. Central 911's urban search and rescue unit brought out the first body, and the operation was declared over at 5:09 in the morning.
Fire Senior Inspector Frances Marie Sendrijas briefed the Davao Peace and Security Press Corps at the Royal Mandaya Hotel on Wednesday, October 7. She described the entry as a narrow vertical passage wide enough for one person, with water at knee level inside the station.
Why the gas reading does not settle it
Sendrijas called 50 parts per million "quite high" and said prolonged exposure at that level can cause dizziness and suffocation. She stopped short of naming it the cause. The presence of carbon monoxide, she said, does not by itself establish what killed the three men. The BFP's role was retrieval, and the investigation belongs to the police.
The bureau said it had no information on whether the workers tested the air before going down. That question sits at the center of the case. Confined space entry rules under Philippine occupational safety standards call for atmospheric testing, ventilation and a standby attendant before anyone enters a sewer vault or a lifting station.
Lt. Col. Ma. Teresita Gaspan, spokesperson of the Davao City Police Office, said investigators are waiting for autopsy results. Early reports from the scene had suggested electrocution. Scene of the crime operatives and forensic examiners have processed the site. Gaspan asked the public not to speculate while the examinations are pending.
The families' account
Relatives of the three men have given a different first impression from the carbon monoxide finding. Rose Marie Felicitas, the partner of Rexter Banal, said the family was initially told he had been electrocuted. She described his body as having a swollen face, blood from one ear and a bruise, and said he was found without his shirt.
Relatives of Reuben James Ramos posted a statement on Facebook that has been shared widely in Davao. "We believe that we have the right to know the truth about what happened that night," it read. "We deserve to know how the accident happened, whether proper safety measures were in place."
All three men were in their twenties or had just turned thirty. Ramos was a licensed engineer. The three worked in the property's engineering department, which handles building maintenance for the hotel and the residential tower above it.
The hotel's response and the labor stoppage
Dusit Thani Residence Davao issued a statement on October 6 expressing "profound sadness" and confirming that the men had been carrying out maintenance at the lifting station. The property said the area has been secured and that "all similar work has been suspended pending a full review." On the cause, the statement said: "While the investigation is ongoing, we will not speculate on the cause."
The property is owned by Torre Lorenzo Development Corporation, whose president and chief executive is Tomas P. Lorenzo. Dusit International of Thailand manages the hotel under its brand.
The Department of Labor and Employment issued a work stoppage order covering the restaurant area of the property, according to a report by RMN Davao. A stoppage order is the department's tool for halting work where it finds an imminent danger to workers while it completes an occupational safety inspection.
What comes next
Three findings will decide the case. The autopsies will say whether the men died of gas, electric shock, drowning or some combination. The police investigation will establish who authorized the entry and what equipment the men carried. The labor department's inspection will determine whether the employer followed confined space rules and whether penalties follow.
Lifting stations collect wastewater from a building before pumping it to a treatment plant or a sewer main. Decomposing waste in such chambers produces hydrogen sulfide and methane and depletes oxygen. Carbon monoxide is less typical in sewage vaults and often points to a combustion source, such as a generator or pump engine, which is one reason investigators have been careful about the reading.
The Davao City Police Office said it will release findings once the forensic reports are complete. Neither the police nor the BFP gave a timeline.
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