At least 9 dead as part of Antique mining pit collapses

By: Erwin Aguilon, Nestor P. Burgos Jr.
Inquirer Visayas, Radyo Inquirer 990 AM
10:43 AM July 17th, 2015

ILOILO CITY–Part of the Panian mining pit on Semirara Island in Antique collapsed early Friday, leaving at least nine workers dead.

Isidro Consunji, President of DMCI Holdings which operates the Semirara Mining Corporation, said that non-stop rain over the last few days may have caused the landslide in the open-pit coal mine. He added that the incident, which happened at around 3:30 a.m. immediately trapped the workers in the mine.

Part of the mining pit also collapsed in 2013, leaving five dead and five still missing.

Juniper Barroquillo, administrative officer of the Semirara Mining Corp., confirmed that an incident occurred at the mining pit but could not confirm reports of casualties as he was in Iloilo City. source