CAVING activities inside the famous Sagada Caves in Mountain Province were suspended by town officials after a tour guide went missing inside the still unexplored Victoria tunnel at Maduto, Amkileng.
Authorities identified the missing tour guide as Roderick Malecdan, a native of Sagada, who was believed to have been flushed inside a deep portion of the cave.
Initial police investigation revealed seven tour guides allegedly entered and explore Victoria cave in preparation for the visit of tourists when a huge volume of water triggered by the early afternoon rains suddenly entered the tunnel and flushed them inside.
Four tour guides were able to come out of the cave while two others were rescued by responding rescuers.
Rescuers were able to identify the area where the missing tourist guide was and they are expected to scour the area once the water drop to a manageable level inside the tunnel.
Robert Pangod, Sagada’s tourism officer, said retrieval is ongoing and stressed no tourists were included.
In April this year, Sagada's Sumaging and Lumiang caves were also closed when a 15-year-old boy fell while playing inside the crystal cave.
Sagada has recently seen a bigger influx of tourists when the film "That Thing Called Tadhana" hit the box office.
The film featured Sagada's Mt. Kiltepan and feted the area as a Mecca for healing broken hearts which saw tourists flocking to the highland town reaching uncontrollable average giving locals a problem on water sources, lodging, and transportation. (Roderick Osis)