Lack of oxygen, rising water threaten 17 trapped miners

(Updated 6:03 p.m.) Suffocation from decreasing oxygen and drowning from accumulating water loom as the biggest threats to at least 17 miners still trapped in the wake of a landslide in Compostela Valley last Friday. Lieutenant Colonel Camilo Ligayo, commander of the army's 701st Infantry Brigade, said this as search-and-rescue operations continued for the third day Sunday. “Ang sabi ng nakakaalam dito, pag trapped sa loob ng tunnel may problema sa oxygen, at nag-accumulate ang tubig. (So) ang dalawang problema natin, lack of oxygen at pag-accumulate ng tubig (According to local residents, those trapped inside the tunnel face the prospect of suffocating from limited oxygen and drowning from accumulating water. Those are the two problems we now face)," he said in an interview on dzBB radio. Last Friday, a landslide buried a small-scale mining area at Panganason-B in Kingking village in Pantukan town in Compostela Valley. The incident prompted the local provincial government to mull a suspension of small-scale mining in the area for at least 30 days. In a separate interview, Lt. Col. Lyndon Paniza of the Army’s 10th Infantry Division said two more bodies were recovered Sunday, bringing the total death toll to five. Some 17 were still missing. The latest fatalities were identified as Relieto Tabag, 29, and Marvin Anglai, 19.
Paniza said they may shift to search and retrieval operations once there is no longer proof of life among the still missing victims. “If there’s no longer a proof of life, we will shift to retrieval mode. As of now, we are still on search and rescue operation," he said. Paniza, however, admitted that chances were slim that survivors would be found. “Although we can say that the chances are already slim, we still hope that there would still be survivors from among the 17 missing." As of 8 a.m., the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said two more miners were rescued and brought to a hospital. It said the two – Jay and Jimmy Caladis of Sawata, Davao del Norte – were not on its list of missing persons. Two other miners rescued earlier – Jessie Bilan of Magnanga, Pantukan and Belimar Dawa of Looban, Mati – were also not in the NDRRMC's list of missing persons. As such, the NDRRMC's latest update still indicated at least 21 were missing, despite Ligayo's figures that only 19 are still missing. Despite the problems, Ligayo said they remain hopeful of finding survivors as heavy equipment had been brought in to remove the debris. “Hopeful pa rin kami may makitang buhay doon (We still hope to see survivors there)," he said. Rains still threaten Visayas, Mindanao Meanwhile, the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said the tail-end of a cold front affecting Eastern Visayas may bring rains to parts of Visayas and Mindanao. “Eastern and Central Visayas and Northeastern Mindanao will experience mostly cloudy skies with scattered rainshowers and thunderstorms. Northern and Southern Luzon and the rest of Visayas and of Mindanao will have partly cloudy to at times cloudy skies with isolated rainshowers or thunderstorms. Central Luzon will have partly cloudy skies," PAGASA said in its 5 a.m. bulletin. It added light to moderate winds blowing from the Northeast will prevail over Luzon and coming from the Southeast to Northeast over the rest of the country. — LBG/KBK, GMA News