Sunday, July 19, 2015

Slow going for retrieval operations at Semirara Island

GMA News Online
July 19, 2015 8:33pm

Search and retrieval operations for three miners lost in a mine collapse on Semirara Island in Antique are being hampered by the sheer amount of soil that equipment has to dig through.

According to a report on "24 Oras Weekend" aired Sunday, around 500 tons of earth from the backfill — or soil excavated from the mine — the north wall of the Panian open pit mine now cover the area.

Six bodies have already been recovered from the collapsed mine.

The report quoted the safety officer of the Semirara Mining and Power Corp. as saying the collapse may have been caused by continous rain.



Meanwhile, the local government of Caluyan, Antique, which has jurisdiction over Semirara Island, will meet on Monday to discuss what it will do next.

It will also meet on what assistance it can offer the families of those lost in the mine collapse on Friday.

"May pros and cons iyan, at saka, kailangan po, ang leading agency is the [Department of Energy], so naghihintay kami kung ano yung investigation ng DOE, Caluyan Mayor Genevive Reyes said.

The collapse was the second on Semirara. Five miners were killed in a mine collapse in 2013. — JDS, GMA News source

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