Deep well worker buried to death in Iloilo town

CEBU, Philippines - A man hired to clean a deep well was buried alive after a big volume of soil collapsed on him at Barangay Batuan in Pototan, Iloilo.

Senior Inspector Aaron Palomo, Pototan Police chief, identified the victim as Cornelio Gonzaga, 58, of Barangay Abangay of the same town.

Gonzaga was hired by Arturo Perez to clean the latter’s deep well. But around 2 p.m. of  Thursday, the soil at the middle portion of the deep well suddenly collapsed burying the heavily-built Gonzaga by at least 6 feet of soil.

Police was informed about the incident only at around 7 p.m. “Those who knew about what happened claimed that they panicked that it took hours before they remembered to inform us,” Palomo said.

The police then dispatched a team from the local rescue group, Pototan Mountain Tigers, to rescue Gonzaga whose body was recovered by 10:45 p.m. He rushed to the Iloilo Provincial Hospital in Pototan but was declared dead on arrival. (FREEMAN)