2 miners killed, 1 hurt in Benguet landslide
07/21/2009 | 01:48 PM
Two miners were killed while another one was hurt Tuesday in a landslide near a mining site in the northern Philippine province of Benguet.
The landslide hit a miners’ camp in Kias village in Tuba town at 4:30 a.m., Fire Officer 1 Marvin Gaddang said.
Those killed were identified as Alvin Sabbang and Cesar Panganiban, both of Aurora province in the easternmost part of Central Luzon. A colleague of the two, Orly Aglibut, 17, who was hurt in the incident, is being treated at the Baguio City General Hospital.
The site of the landslide is located nine kilometers from Baguio City and can be reached on foot after a 30 to 40-minute walk from the nearest road.
Gaddang told GMANews.TV that the three miners were inside their makeshift camp near a tunnel when the soil caved and buried them.
Fellow miners nearby rushed to the site and were able to rescue Aglibut. Fire officials later stepped in to retrieve the bodies of the remaining miners.
Heavy downpour in the area was believed to have triggered the soil’s collapse. "Nagagalaw din yung lupa kaya lumambot ito (Activities in the area loosened the soil)," Gaddang added.
The fire official said continuous rains had been pounding the area in the last several days. On Monday, however, the rains stopped, prompting the miners to trek back to their camp by the tunnel.
"Everytime may ulan, may landslide dito. Normally, nag-uuwian ang mga minero pag maulan, kaso kahapon, nag-stay doon ang mga biktima kasi umaraw naman," Gaddang said.
(Landslides are a common occurrence here whenever it rains. When it’s raining, miners normally descend from mountains. But the weather improved Monday, so the three miners decided to stay in the area.)
Estimates by Baguio City officials peg to 100 the number of miners scattered within a half-kilometer radius from the site where Tuesday’s landslide happened.
Last month, a woman was believed to have been trapped inside her home in a village in Kapangan town in Benguet after a landslide hit the place.
Incessant rains in the region had caused the evacuation of at least 19 families and the closing of roads in the provinces of Ilocos Sur and Benguet, particularly in Baguio City. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV
The landslide hit a miners’ camp in Kias village in Tuba town at 4:30 a.m., Fire Officer 1 Marvin Gaddang said.
Those killed were identified as Alvin Sabbang and Cesar Panganiban, both of Aurora province in the easternmost part of Central Luzon. A colleague of the two, Orly Aglibut, 17, who was hurt in the incident, is being treated at the Baguio City General Hospital.
The site of the landslide is located nine kilometers from Baguio City and can be reached on foot after a 30 to 40-minute walk from the nearest road.
Gaddang told GMANews.TV that the three miners were inside their makeshift camp near a tunnel when the soil caved and buried them.
Fellow miners nearby rushed to the site and were able to rescue Aglibut. Fire officials later stepped in to retrieve the bodies of the remaining miners.
Heavy downpour in the area was believed to have triggered the soil’s collapse. "Nagagalaw din yung lupa kaya lumambot ito (Activities in the area loosened the soil)," Gaddang added.
The fire official said continuous rains had been pounding the area in the last several days. On Monday, however, the rains stopped, prompting the miners to trek back to their camp by the tunnel.
"Everytime may ulan, may landslide dito. Normally, nag-uuwian ang mga minero pag maulan, kaso kahapon, nag-stay doon ang mga biktima kasi umaraw naman," Gaddang said.
(Landslides are a common occurrence here whenever it rains. When it’s raining, miners normally descend from mountains. But the weather improved Monday, so the three miners decided to stay in the area.)
Estimates by Baguio City officials peg to 100 the number of miners scattered within a half-kilometer radius from the site where Tuesday’s landslide happened.
Last month, a woman was believed to have been trapped inside her home in a village in Kapangan town in Benguet after a landslide hit the place.
Incessant rains in the region had caused the evacuation of at least 19 families and the closing of roads in the provinces of Ilocos Sur and Benguet, particularly in Baguio City. - Mark Merueñas, GMANews.TV
