AFTER 26 days, the search for miners who were buried in a landslide in Mankayan, Benguet, has officially ended.

The bodies of all 16 missing miners have been recovered, said Senior Superintendent Jonathan Calixto, Benguet Provincial Public Safety Company (BPPSC) head who led the search and retrieval operations.

Calixto said the last body, that of Ronaldo Angel, was found on September 16.

Angel, a native of Aurora province, is said to be the financier of the small-scale mining operations in Mankayan.

Calixto said officials had given the search for the remaining bodies, but volunteers refused to give up.

“We convinced our volunteers that we had to continue the search and retrieval operations until all the bodies of the missing miners because our conscience could not take it that we will be leaving the site with some people still missing,” Calixto said.

Calixto thanked the more than 500 police, military, civilian volunteers including miners of Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company, who took part in the search. (Redjie Melvic Cawis)