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Sunday, September 28, 2008
Rescue for miners suspended anew
BAGUIO CITY -- Rescue and retrieval operations at the Antamok Goldfield in Itogon, Benguet was temporarily stopped Saturday due to the sudden inflow of water caused by strong rains upstream the mine site.
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Engineer George Dean Baywong, mine safety officer of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and Mines Geosciences Bureau (DENR-MGB), announced the suspension of the rescue operations while rescuers are waiting for the results of water sampling done in Level 700 in Shaft 114 of the mine site, where at least two bloated bodies were found floating Thursday.
"Unlike other mine sites where they set the levels of shafts from sea level and measure upward, Benguet Corporation is a pre-war company. They use the English mining system there," he pointed out.
In the English system of mining, Baywong explained, the company sets a fixed point as its reference and measures downward towards sea level. "So this means since we are at Level 430 now, the area where the two dead pocket miners were found was almost 300 feet below us," he said.
The entry of Tyhoon Ofel (international name: Jangmi) may also slow down the rescue and retrieval operations of the 13 trapped miners.
Typhoon Ofel, which is headed to Northern Luzon, has a maximum sustained wind of 195 kilometer per hour (kph) with gustiness of up to 120 kph. The storm is estimated to move northwest at 19 kph. An Active Low Pressure Area (Alpa) was estimated at 540 kilometer (kms) west of Iba, Zambales.
Northern Luzon will have rains and gusty winds, and the coastal waters along these areas will be rough. Typhoon Ofel is expected to be at it's nearest to Itogon this weekend.
Early Friday night, another batch of 12 pocket miners went into the mine lugging along a 100-meter long rope to add to the already 200 meters inside. This will allow them and frogmen from the Naval Operations Unit 2 of the Philippine Navy to reach Level 700 of Shaft 114 more easily.
Baywong said he also requested the use of at least six face pieces with wipers to allow rescue team members to get better visibility underground despite the murky water.
The Navy frogmen led by Lieutenant First Grade Victor Ramos also entered the mine site around 3:30 p.m. Friday in their hope of finding survivors or at least the remains of those who did not make it, but this proved futile.
Meanwhile, cash assistance of at least P21,000 each will be given to all pocket miners trapped inside the Antamok Goldfield mine site, whether they survive or not.
Antonio Chog-ap, treasurer of the Spanish Empire Pocket Miners Association (Sepma) and concurrent president of Korean-owned Woong Bi Mining, disclosed this Saturday, saying the Provincial Government of Benguet will give P10,000 for each trapped pocket miner, while the Municipal Government of Itogon will give another P5,000 each.
Other donors, he said, include Benguet Corporation, which offered P3,000 each, and Benguet Federation of Small-Scale Miners Associations offering another P3,000 each. (ENO/With reports from Rimaliza Opiña of Sun.Star Baguio/Sunnex)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (September 28, 2008 issue)
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