3 treasure hunters find death in tunnel

CAMP VICENTE LIM, Laguna – Two brothers died of suffocation while a companion fell to his death in a tunnel they had dug in Biñan town to look for supposed treasures buried there by Japanese soldiers during World War II.

Senior Superintendent Felipe Rojas Jr., Laguna police director, identified the fatalities as Apolinario Samiano, 25, his brother Bonifacio Samiano, 28, and Percival Delgado, 42, all residents of Sitio Kiliti, Ba­rangay Timbao, Biñan.

Police said the three began digging the tunnel in the house of spouses Francisco and Luciana Samiano on Panda­can street in Barangay Timbao last month.

However, when the Samiano brothers reached a depth of 30 meters yesterday, they collapsed due to lack of oxygen.

Delgado tried to rescue his two companions by lowering himself with a rope tied to a portable water pump.

With Delgado halfway through the tunnel, the portable pump, however, snapped out from its base and fatally hit him on the head.

Rojas said the Samiano brothers could have inhaled methane emitted by a septic tank near the tunnel.

Villagers rushed the three victims to the nearby Perpetual Help Hospital and Ospital ng Biñan, but they were declared dead on arrival.