Typhoon death toll rises to six; 13 miners still trapped
Agence France-Presse | 09/23/2008 5:17 PM
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ITOGON - Six people have been killed and rescuers are searching for 13 gold miners trapped in a flooded mine after Typhoon Hagupit hit the northern Philippines, officials said Tuesday.
The miners failed to return home Monday from the mine in the mountain town of Itogon, provincial governor Nestor Fongwan said, as he ordered a search and rescue operation.
They were last reported 700 feet (213 metres) below ground, and Fongwan said it was unclear whether they were alive.
"We have not recovered any of the 13 miners," provincial police chief Eugene Martin said. "These are small-scale miners working for a private enterprise."
Mud washed down by typhoon-induced rain had blocked the entrance of the tunnel, preventing rescuers from reaching the miners, Martin said.
Rescuers were pumping water out of the tunnel so the mud can be cleared out, Fongwan said.
Landslides in the nearby mountain resort of Baguio killed a 76-year-old woman and her son, and another woman, civil defence officials said Tuesday.
Two people were killed and one more was missing after the typhoon caused a boat to capsize as it was crossing a river in the central island of Panay, the civil defence office said.
A male drowning victim was also fished out of a river in the central island of Samar, the office added.
The typhoon displaced about 2,000 people in the central Philippines.
Hagupit was poised to slam into China's south coast on Tuesday night packing winds of 195 kilometres (121 miles) per hour, weather forecasters said.
