Firefighters retrieve bodies of 4 miners in Zamboanga

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — The remains of four coal miners were retrieved after being trapped for five days inside a collapsed tunnel in Barangay Lumbog, Imelda, Zamboanga Sibugay.

Insp. Joe Ledesma, Imelda fire station chief, said miner Jimmy Cañete, the last to enter the tunnel in Purok Orchids, was able to crawl out shortly after an explosion on Tuesday.

“All (four) died from exhaustion after the tunnel collapsed,” Ledesma said. “The tunnel was deep so our rescue team had to reinstall the air line to provide oxygen inside.”

Col. Barnard Danie Dasugo, Zamboanga Sibugay Provincial Police director, ordered a thorough investigation to determine the cause of the explosion and implement measures to prevent similar incidents in the future.