A miner was found dead after he suffocated in a 20-meter-deep tunnel in Sitio Arum, Brgy. Talacagay, Hinoba-an, Negros Occidental, early Tuesday morning, January 9.
Ignacio Ortega, 42, of Toboso town and temporarily residing in Purok Calacuch, Brgy. Talacagay, suffocated in the tunnel at about 4 a.m., the police reported Wednesday.
Hinoba-an Police Chief, Maj. Jaynick Bermudez, told DIGICAST NEGROS Ortega suffocated as other miners had burned an undisclosed object inside the tunnel.
The small-scale mining site is located in an upland area of Brgy. Talacagay, which is two kilometers away from the police station, the police said.
Investigation revealed that when the tunnel was filled with smoke, the other miners went out.
Ortega went inside the tunnel in an attempt to stop the burning, the witnesses said.
The victim’s second cousin went inside the tunnel at about 7 a.m. and found Ortega lying on the ground.
Ortega was brought to the Eleuterio Decena Memorial District Hospital but was declared dead on arrival with no visible injuries on his body.
Bermudez said that the post-mortem examination showed that the victim died due to suffocation.
There was no foul play involved, he said.*