Two trapped miners rescued

CEBU, Philippines - “Nagpasalamat ko sa Ginoo nga nakagawas mi!”

These were the words of Nelson Pantuha after his escape from what could have been his tomb. He was one of the two men trapped inside a stone quarry in Barangay Calagasan, Argao town, last Thursday morning.

After 14 hours of manual digging, rescued reached Pantuha and Fredilito “Nitoy” Alforque at 11:30 p.m. that same day. 

Both men, residents of the same barangay, returned home with only bruises in both arms and legs, the police said.

Pantuhan said while they were working he was surprised when he heard thuds on the surface and asked fellow miner Joey Langi to check outside, but Langi did not return after rocks and soil already covered the entrance of the quarry.

“Nahibulong ko unsay tagultol unya bato naman diay,” he said in an interview over TV Patrol Central Visayas.

But those outside reported they could still hear the two trapped inside and immediately began rescue efforts.

The incident reportedly happened at 9 a.m., the people of the barangay sought the help from the town when they realized they could not rescue the two all by themselves.

Vice Mayor Stanley Caminero arrived with two backhoes but the use of the heavy equipment was abandoned as the resulting tremors might bury the two miners alive.

The rescuers used their bare hands to dig to avoid any movement that would jeopardize the safety of the trapped men.

According to Department of Environment and Natural Resources Public Information Officer Eddie Llamedo, the quarry has a permit from the provincial government dated January 20, 2011. It covers 1.16 hectares of land.

The cream stone quarry is owned by a certain Rogelio Fuentes. Residents nearby said that those who want to get stones are welcome to go down the quarry and Fuentes would pay them for what they would bring to the surface.

The stones are used in the furniture industry.

But mining engineers Edgar Lagarin and Romeo Patalinghug claimed that the quarry has a violation since there no adept, an entrance and exit of a quarry, constructed.

Llamedo said quarrying is only done in the open surface and not beneath.

Now, the total operation in the area was stopped and cordoned with a sign reading “hazardous”.The DENR also suspended the permit of the quarry until such time there will be safety measures imposed. Fuentes was also asked to submit a quarry development plan which includes the details of their specific activities.

“The area naa nay crack especially elevated ang lugar and the past three days nga sige’g uwan, triggered the incident,” Llamedo said.

Upon seeing photo in The FREEMAN yesterday, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia wondered why there were people underground.

Garcia said the Capitol issues permits to quarry operations in extracting materials from riverbed and in the mountains. It is also stipulated in the permit that safety procedures must be followed in the quarry operation, said Garcia.

Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office in-charge Nerces Bispo said the joint evaluation report and recommendation will be available Monday as she was not able to communicate the team late afternoon yesterday.  (FREEMAN)