7 miners die inside digging

TAGUM CITY—Seven miners died while working inside a shaft in a small-scale mining area in Barangay Mat-i in Surigao City on Thursday,  police said.

Caraga police spokesperson Supt. Martin Gamba said the miners appeared to have suffocated inside the shaft operated by a Jonalyn Torres Martinez when air ran out.

They had no breathing apparatus, Gamba said.

He said eight workers for Martinez went down on the shaft, the depth of which was not immediately known, around 9 a.m. to transfer an air hose to an adjacent tunnel but an apparent lack of oxygen inside had caused them to suffocate.

“They were not able to come out,” he said.

Gamba identified the fatalities as Jomar Estrella, 26; Delvin, 21, and Dexter, 18, all surnamed Antipas; Arnel Palasan, 22; Julius Mayola, 26; Basty Porlas Avila, 23, and Paustino Abendan Pacquiao, 22.

The eighth miner, 19-year-old Berdan Avila, was able to get out of the hole in time and survived, he said. “Their companions outside tried to rescue them by dropping a rope but only Berdan Avila made it to safety,” Gamba said.

When the seven miners still failed to come out of the shaft, Gamba said their other companions went down the hole and pulled them out.

The victims were then rushed to the Caraga Regional Hospital here but efforts to revive the seven failed, Gamba said.

Avila is now recuperating at the said hospital.

Gamba said initial investigation revealed that the victims had difficulty breathing due to lack of oxygen masks and other protective gears while working inside the tunnel.

But Mayor Ernesto Matugas said he had ordered a deeper investigation of the incident after rumors spread that the workers died from an obnoxious odor inside the shaft.

“It could be gas poisoning and they lacked adequate protective gear and breathing equipment,” Matugas said in a radio interview.

In another radio report, the mayor was quoted to have said that he wanted to find out if the mine tunnel’s owner had a permit to operate.

Gamba said Mat-i is considered the “gold village” of Surigao because of the number of gold miners operating there. He said the village hosts small-scale mining communities.

The Inquirer yesterday tried but failed to reach the city’s environment officer for more information on the gold mining activities there and to know what his plans were regarding the incident in Mat-i.

A staff said her boss, an Engineer Tecson, was not in the office at that time but did not provide details on when he was coming back. Frinston L. Lim, Inquirer Mindanao