TAGUM CITY—The Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB) has recommended the suspension of operation of a gold mine tunnel in Monkayo town in Compostela Valley province where 12 miners—six of whom died—were trapped by floodwater on Feb. 27, police said.
The order covering work suspension at Australia Tunnel in Purok 3 in Barangay Mount Diwata came as the Southern Mindanao regional office of the MGB continues its investigation into the accident, said Senior Supt. Albert Ignatius Ferro, Compostela Valley police director.
The management of Australia Tunnel has heeded the MGB recommendation and stopped operations, reports said.
The bodies of Roel Dacaldacal and siblings Bryan and Richard Monson were recovered on Thursday, nearly two weeks after incessant rains inundated the tunnel where they were working.
Supt. Jay Dema-ala, Monkayo police chief, said the cadavers, which were already decomposing, were found underneath debris by rescuers.
The recovery of the bodies of the three miners, who were earlier declared missing, brought to seven the number of people killed in the accident. Four persons, including a rescuer, were initially killed when rainwater gushed into the mine tunnel as 12 workers were working there.
Rescued were Aljun Dumalaga, Oliver Uganap, Carlito Morado, Albert Agyang, Angelito Tanio and Pepe Mendoza.
Joel Catulong, an MGB engineer, said their investigation showed that the screen gate railings of the shaft’s working area were blocked by rocks and other debris, hampering the flow of rainwater to exit points.
Screen gate railings served as partition for many crisscrossing tunnels in Mt. Diwata, also known as Diwalwal.
Officials from the MGB regional office said these steel gates had become a safety issue following the incident.
Disaster has always struck the gold-rich mountain since gold was found there in the 1980s.
In March last year, at least five houses were destroyed and dozens of families were displaced following a string of landslides in several sections of Mt. Diwata.
In 2014, incessant rains triggered landslides in the mountain, killing six people. Frinston Lim, Inquirer Mindanao