50 feared dead in Philippine gold mine collapse
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-10-28 22:02

At least 50 miners are feared to have died in Thursday's caving in of one of the tunnels in the gold mining area of south Philippines, the office of civil defense said Friday.

A Philippine miner pushes a gold ore transporter at the entrance of a tunnel leading to a collapsed mine after an explosion in the remote mining village of Mount Diwalwal in Compostela valley, in southern Philippines Oct. 28. [Reuters]

Rescue teams from Southern Mindanao proceeded to the site at Mt. Diwalwal in Compostela Valley to help account the victims trapped at the Sunshine Tunnel, said rescue spokesman Anthony Golez.

As of Friday, Golez said at least 18 bodies have already been recovered from the site. Five of the fatalities were identified.

"An estimated 50 tunnel workers are feared dead inside the Sunshine Tunnel," said Golez.

The tunnel collapsed when one of the compressors that supply air as ventilation to the tunnel exploded for still unknown reasons, he added.

However, Golez dismissed "rumors" that "it was not a compressor but a bunker containing high explosives materials...inside the tunnel that exploded."

A Philippine miner carries a sack of gold ores outside a tunnel in the remote mining village of Mount Diwalwal in southern Philippines Oct. 28. [Reuters]

Golez also said that nine workers from the nearby Licayen Tunnel were rescued after inhaling toxic fumes.

The official said the working inter-agency team included personnel from the Search and Rescue Group of the Philippine Air Force, experts from the Explosives and Ordnance Division of the PNP-Southern Mindanao.

Other officials said rescuers were having difficulty in entering the collapsed tunnel due to the fumes.

Later Friday afternoon, Philippine Environment Secretary Michael Defensor blamed illegal mining for the blast at Mt. Diwalwal, one of the country's biggest deposits of gold that seats over 30,000 small-scale miners.