DOE suspends Semirara operations after accident kills 5 miners

By Luis Leoncio

The Department of Energy (DOE) has stopped DM Consunji Inc. (DMCI) group’s Semirara Mining and Power Corp.’s operations in Semirara, Antique, after a wall in the vast coalpit collapsed early Friday morning, killing five miners.

The accident also left at least four other miners missing at a site where a similar deadly accident occurred two years ago.

Antique Gov. Rhodora Cadiao said the chances of rescuing those missing were dim because they were buried alive by mud and water at the open Panian pit on Semirara. Eight other workers survived the landslide but were injured, she said.

“The missing are now presumed dead,” Cadiao told The Associated Press by telephone, adding the accident occurred in the same northern edge of the open pit that collapsed two years ago.

DOE Officer in Charge (OIC) Secretary Zenaida Monsada has sent a letter to Semirara Mining and Power Corp. for the suspension, adding an investigation committee would be formed to investigate the incident.

Monsada said she ordered Semirara to focus on rescue operations.

The DOE gave assurances it would monitor the developments of the incident.

Semirara, on the other hand, said a portion of the northern edge of the Panian mine was opened, where five bodies have been recovered, while an undetermined number of miners are still missing.

It added that families of the victims have been assured of full support by the management.

Semirara has coordinated with the national and local authorities for updates on the search and rescue operations.

The company has yet to identify the cause of the incident, but said an investigation with the local authorities was ongoing.

Semirara Mining and Power Corp. is a wholly owned subsidiary of DMCI Holdings Inc. The 2013 accident in Semirara in Antique, about 350 kilometers south of Manila, left 10 workers dead and missing. With AP