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Saturday, January 13, 2007
Landslide traps 11 Compostela Valley miners
By Jeffery M. Tupas
DAVAO CITY -- Eleven miners were trapped inside a mining tunnel for 10 hours when a mine portal was blocked by an avalanche of rocks and loose soil at sitio Inupuan in Barangay Mainit, Nabunturan, Compostela Valley Province on Thursday night.
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Compostela Valley Governor Jose Caballero said the miners, who belong to a group of small-scale miners operating in the area for sometime now, were rescued Friday dawn.
"We have already alerted all mining sites, especially those who are in Mt. Diwalwal, to be very careful and take extra precaution. We have also readied our emergency units if ever similar incidents will occur," Caballero said over Radyo ng Bayan-Davao.
Edgar Solanio, information officer of the Office of Civil Defense-Southern Mindanao, said the trapped miners' 10-hour ordeal ended when they finally found their way out through the mine's emergency exit around 4 p.m. Friday.
"Our concern is the possible landslides and cave-ins. We have been coordinating with the Provincial Government and started monitoring," Solanio said.
For now, he said, their operations are focused on the flood victims in the Davao provinces where around 16,500 families were affected by floods over the last three days.
The flood, which was brought by torrential rains, also damaged millions worth of crops and properties in 12 municipalities or 55 villages of the provinces of Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, and Davao Oriental.
State of calamity
The Provincial Government of Davao del Norte placed the entire province under a state of calamity Thursday.
In the town of Asuncion alone, at least P5 million worth of crops and P6 million worth of infrastructure projects were damaged by floods.
At least 125 families in Tagum City were forced to evacuate to higher grounds when their respective villages started to get submerged by the water -- a result from the overflow of the Libuganon and Saug rivers.
Like in the past, if the two rivers overflow, flooding is expected to occur in the low-lying towns of Carmen, Kapalong, Braulio Dujali, Asuncion, Sto. Tomas, and Tagum.
Until now, the flooded towns are still underwater. Last year, the same towns were also struck by flood, leaving damages in millions of pesos.
Solanio said recent estimates for crop damages in Braulio Dujali town reached more than P4 million, P2 million for infrastructure projects, and another P1.6 million for fisheries.
Rescue operations were still ongoing Friday with the help of the Naval Force-Southern Mindanao, Coast Guard, and the local government units. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Zamboanga. (January 13, 2007 issue)
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