Two men were buried after mounds of eroded soil and dislodged rocks at a quarry site fell on them in Barangay Candabong in Anda at past 4:45 p.m on Monday.
According to PO3 Tefilo Barrete of the Anda police, victims Valerio Galeya and Ariel Abac, both residents of the said village, remained underneath soil and a large rock fragment as of this mroning.
A small dump truck near the victims was also completely covered underneth mounds of earth and rocks.
The victims, both workers at the quarry site, were digging when the rock suddenly rolled down and soil started to fall, said Barrete based on their initial investigation.
The soil may have eroded due to previous intermittent rains, added Barrete.
According to Anthony Damalerio, chief of the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, rescue operations remained ongoing as of 10 a.m. today.
Authorities were having difficulty in digging as they searched for the victims due to the large size of the rock, said Damalerio.
Even heavy equipment from the Department of Public Works and Highways struggled to move the boulder.
Emergency responders were also cautious in approaching the scene due to possible rock slides and the elevation of the quarry site.
According to Damalerio, the quarry’s workers were previously told to cease operations due to previous reported landslides in the area.
However, quarry operations resumed even after a directive to cease the quarrying was issued. (Allen Doydora)