Death toll from Philippines' coal mine blast rises to 54<\/p>\n
MANILA (AFP): The death toll from a massive gas explosion in
\nthe Philippines' biggest coal mine rose to 54 yesterday as
\nrescuers battled noxious fumes to find 20 workers still missing
\none day after the accident.<\/p>\n
Asked whether any of the missing miners was still alive,
\nDebbie Diokno, a spokeswoman of the state-owned energy giant
\nPhilippine National Oil Co. (PNOC), replied \"it's hard to say.\"<\/p>\n
The blast ripped through the remote PNOC-Energy Development
\nCorp. (PNOC-EDC) colliery near Malangas town at 7:45 p.m. (1145
\nGMT) Monday, trapping 74 out of the 170 miners working in
\nunderground tunnels at the time, officials said.<\/p>\n
A total of 96 other miners have been rescued, and six of them
\nwere airlifted to the central city of Cebu with severe burns. The
\nmine is located 760 kilometers south of Manila.<\/p>\n
Company officials said 50 rescuers with oxygen equipment and a
\nscreen to protect them from deadly gases were attempting to reach
\nthe blast site, which was filled with carbon monoxide.<\/p>\n
\"It's the worst coal mining disaster in Philippine mining
\nhistory,\" Energy Undersecretary Rufino Bomasang told a news
\nconference. Another accident in the central island of Cebu in the
\nmid-1980s claimed 27 lives, he added.<\/p>\n
Press Secretary Jesus Sison told reporters President Fidel
\nRamos had ordered officials of the PNOC coal subsidiary, the army
\nand the police to speed up the rescue work, and released calamity
\nfunds for the survivors and the families of the dead.<\/p>\n
Miserable<\/p>\n
Cecilio Tura, the town mayor of Malangas, said in a radio
\ninterview that anxious wives and grieving widows flocked to the
\nmine site to await the outcome of the rescue and to the morgues
\nto claim the bodies of the dead.<\/p>\n
\"They look miserable,\" he added.<\/p>\n
PNOC-EDC President Nazario Vazquez said survivors reported
\nencountering a water pocket at a tunnel about 150 meters below
\nthe ground which \"gave way and was followed by the release of
\nmethane gas.\"<\/p>\n
He said they still had to determine what caused the spark that
\nset off the explosion.<\/p>\n
\"We could not have done anything to detect the gas,\" he added.<\/p>\n
The fatalities were discovered in the main tunnel about 100
\nmeters from the explosion site, he said. Those who suffered burns
\nwere caught by the blast as they were retreating, while most
\nvictims died of asphyxiation.<\/p>\n
Methane gas is a colorless, odorless, flammable gas produced
\nby decomposing organic matter in mines.<\/p>\n
The Malangas mine, which produces 200,000 tons of the best
\ncoal grade used for power generation in the central Philippines,
\nwill be shut down, Vazquez said, adding that there was enough
\ninventory for 45-60 days.<\/p>\n
Bomasang said this kind of accident was \"common in underground
\nmines all over the world,\" but \"the question is why there was an
\nexplosion.\"<\/p>\n
The government acquired the mine from a private firm in 1982.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/death-toll-from-philippines-coal-mine-blast-rises-to-54-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }