Rescuers continue search for trapped miners in Compostela Valley

TAGUM CITY – Rescuers were racing against time to find the three miners remained trapped inside a flooded goldmine tunnel in Mt. Diwata in Monkayo, Compostela Valley even as hopes of pulling them out alive were becoming dimmer, the police said.

It has been almost 48 hours after the incident took place on Sunday.

READ: Rescue operations ongoing for 3 missing miners in Compostela Valley

“We are still hoping we can locate and pull them out alive,” said Supt. Jay Dema-ala, Monkayo police chief. “We hope for a miracle.”

Dema-ala admitted rescuers have not yet found any trace of the missing miners, Bryan and Richard Monson and Roel Dacaldacal, even as the flooding inside the 650-foot deep shaft has subsided.

The Monsons and Dacaldal were among 12 miners who were trapped when the tunnel they were working in got flooded Sunday.

Four people, including a miner who attempted to rescue them, had died while six other had been rescued, according to Raul Villocino, the provincial disaster chief.

Dema-ala said troops from the Army’s 10th Infantry Division, the police, and other miners were helping in the search and rescue operation.

“They would continue until the remaining miners had been found,” he said, adding that the water level inside the mine has subsided to about three feet deep. CDG