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Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Rescuers still far from mine cave-in site
By Ben O. Tesiorna
DAVAO CITY -- One week since the cave-in and yet rescuers are still about 250 meters away from where 13 miners are trapped inside the Sunshine tunnel in the gold-rush site of Diwalwal in Monkayo, Compostela Valley.
Carmelito Lupo, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense, said the rescuers have so far reached up to 600 meters from the entrance due to the presence of heavy fumes inside the tunnel.
The miners are estimated to be at the bottom of the tunnel some 850 meters deep. They've been there since portions of the tunnel caved in last October 26.
Lupo said the rescuers from the other mining firms, who were asked to help in the rescue operation, arrived only Tuesday.
He said the rescuers' state-of-the-art equipment, which are capable of determining the type of toxic gases present in the tunnel, would be arriving soon.
As of Monday, 11 people were already confirmed dead, 11 rescued and 13 still trapped inside the tunnel.
It was learned that majority of those who died were rescuers who went inside the tunnel without any protective gear.
Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte, regional crisis manager, suggested the creation of an agency that would specialize on rescue operations in the mine tunnels.
Duterte said this is not the first time that a similar accident happened in Barangay Diwalwal and yet nothing has been done to prepare for such emergencies.
"There have been hundreds of explosions in the past and always we are faced with incompetence and lack of equipment. This is a recurring problem in Diwalwal," said Duterte.
Natural Resources and Mining Development Corporation president Art Disini said they would create the agency and that it will be under the National Task Force Diwalwal that was created by Arroyo last June 17, 2003 through Executive Order 217.
Monkayo Mayor Manuel Brillantes Jr. informed the President that he formed Task Force Ligtas Buhay to look into the incident in Diwalwal and recommend the actions needed.
Brillantes welcomed the plan to form a pro-active disaster team in gold-rush area, saying this would greatly reduce the number of casualties in the future. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
(November 2, 2005 issue)
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