BUTUAN CITY, Philippines – Seven miners were found dead inside a makeshift mining tunnel in Surigao City yesterday morning.
Leonardo Go, head of the Surigao City Quick Action Response Team (QART), said bodies of the still unidentified miners who were searching for gold were found inside the tunnel at Sitio Bedrock in Barangay Mat-I, about 20 kilometers from the center of Surigao City.
Environmental groups earlier questioned the city government for issuing permits to small-scale mining operators near the watershed, which is the main source of potable water of the more than 150,000 residents of Surigao City.
Initial investigation showed that the miners entered mineshaft No. 33 yesterday morning without any protective gear or oxygen mask.
Officials believed that the victims died of suffocation. One miner survived.