2 miners dead in gold mine tunnel collapse in South Cotabato

KORONADAL CITY, South Cotabato – Two miners died and another was injured after they were trapped inside a mining tunnel which collapsed in the gold-rush area of T’boli, South Cotabato on Monday, April 3. Police identified the fatalities as Vincent Allega, 24, and Erwin Sawan, 27, while the injured was Edgardo de Leon, 23. T’boli police chief Lt. Col. Emerson Policarpio said the victims were reportedly poaching gold ores inside the mining tunnel owned by Tribal Mining Corp. in Barangay Kematu when they were hit by falling rock materials that weighed more than two tons. Responders from the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office retrieved the bodies while the injured was taken to a local hospital for treatment of a leg injury. Engr. Efren Garrido, regional director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau, has ordered an investigation on the incident. He ordered the mining company to strictly enforce its security measures against gold ore poachers who intrude into its mining tunnels to avoid similar incidents. In 2018, a miner also died after he was trapped inside a collapsed mining tunnel of TMC in T’boli. TMC was issued a permit to engage in large-scale mining production of gold deposits within the gold-rush area of T’boli.