The retrieval operation for the two treasure hunters trapped in a tunnel they dug in Barangay Lacong, Tagudin, Ilocos Sur last Tuesday, resumed on Thursday morning after it was suspended for one day.
Ilocos Sur police director Sr. Supt. Noel B. Amoyen said that the retrieval operation is intended to recover Gerardo Leal, 41, of Barangay Lacong, Tagudin, Ilocos Sur; and Eleazar Balleran, a native of Subic, Zambales
But both are now feared to have already died ever since the tunnel caved in last Tuesday.
Resumption of retrieval operation began at 11:30 a.m. Thursday upon the arrival of the rescue team from the Lepanto Mines in Mountain Province.
Amoyen said that the retrieval operations were temporarily stopped last Wednesday night following the advice of a Region 1 Mines Geo-sciences Bureau (MGB) team leader John Yson due to the unstable soil condition at the site.
The victims were reported trapped in the vertical tunnel with an estimated depth of 50 feet last Tuesday morning when they were conducting treasure hunting in a lot near the piggery farm of Tagudin town’s Vice Mayor Rogelio Lorenzana.
As a result of the incident, the police and the local government unit of Tagudin activated the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (MDRMMC) headed by Teresa Laranang for the immediate retrieval of the victim’s bodies.
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