[wpgmappity id=”812″]
TAGUM CITY, Philippines—Two small-scale miners were killed after a gold mine tunnel collapsed in San Francisco, Agusan del Sur on Saturday, police said Monday.
The bodies of Ronnie Lawangon, 36, of Purok 2, Barangay Alegria, and Mark Glenn Casher, 27, of Bayugan 3, in nearby Rosario town, were found and retrieved by rescuers inside the shaft in Sitio Sumugbong, Alegria around 8:30 p.m Sunday, more than a day after the disaster, according to Senior Supt. Glenn dela Torre, Agusan del Sur police chief.
Dela Torre told the INQUIRER via text message the victims were working inside the mine tunnel owned by a certain Minak Tagleong when it gave way around 2:30 p.m., trapping them.
The shaft is situated near the Magdiwata range, where the local government of San Francisco has imposed a ban on small-scale mining several years back due to environmental concerns, officials said.
Two hours after the incident, heavy equipment and personnel were sent in by the local government for search and rescue but continuous rains had slowed down the operations.
“(The town) had had heavy downpour for two days,” Dela Torre said. “Probably the tunnel’s timber supports were weak so it caved in. An investigation was now being conducted,” he added.