2 dead, 5 hurt as rock collapses

SAN PEDRO CITY–A group of workers were pinned under large rock fragments after a 40-ton boulder protruding on a mountainside collapsed in Naujan, Oriental Mindoro predawn Tuesday.

Two of the workers, identified as Eduardo Santos and Melchor Lus-ok, both from Baguio City, were declared dead on arrival in the hospital while five others were injured.

In a phone interview Tuesday morning, Supt. Neil Apostol, Naujan police chief, said the incident happened around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday while the workers were taking their rest under the boulder, about two meters high above the ground, in Barangay Balite.

The victims, Apostol said, were working for Sta. Clara Power Corp. that operates a hydro power plant on the site. It was not clear what the workers were specifically working on but Apostol said they were there since February and had used explosives to blast off parts of the mountain.

“There were blastings around 12 midnight (before the incident). It also rained heavily there for the last two days,” Apostol said.

The company provided insurance benefits to the victims, he added.