10 Vizcaya miners buried alive in tunnel

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya , Philippines  – Ten small-scale miners were buried alive in an illegally constructed tunnel in a gold-rich mountain village in the province’s eastern Kasibu town last week, belated reports said.

Senior Superintendent Pedro Danguilan, provincial police director, said the body of one Balong Amboy was recovered from the tunnel in Alimit village, which is adjacent to Barangay Didipio where a multibillion-peso gold-copper project is located.

Police said Amboy, together with at least nine other small-scale miners, reportedly broke into a tunnel more than 150 feet deep managed by another group of miners on April 8.

While the group was inside, the illegally constructed tunnel reportedly collapsed, burying alive all the miners.

“One of these miners possibly hit a post of the tunnel by accident, which caused it to cave in,” Danguilan said.

The provincial government has been calling for the dismantling of small-scale mining operations in the area amid deaths due to suffocation, premature explosions and cave-ins, and unregulated mining practices.

The small-scale miners, some of them believed to have unlicensed firearms, have reportedly been using dynamite and other explosives to construct tunnels.

The miners, who now number at least 3,000, are being financed by some local businessmen, allegedly including politicians.

Last year, a study made by the Nueva Vizcaya State University confirmed the contamination of water sources with mercury, cyanide and other deadly substances being used by the miners. –Charlie Lagasca (The Philippine Star)