Five small-scale miners were found dead inside a suspected illegal tunnel located within the compound of a mining company in Quezon, Nueva Vizcaya.
The victims were identified as Daniel Segundo Paggana, 47; Lipihon Ayudan, 56; and Florencio Indopia, 63, all residents of Barangay Runruno; and Alfred Bilibli and Joval Bantiyan, both from Maddela, Quirino.
Authorities believe the miners were involved in illegal mining operations approximately 91.44 meters underground and may have died due to suffocation.
A resident who entered the tunnel discovered the bodies and immediately informed Barangay Runruno Chairperson John Babliing.
Police from Quezon, the Bureau of Fire Protection, and the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office dispatched rescue teams to the site.
Barangay Runruno is known as a hotspot for unregulated small-scale mining activities in the province.
In 2021, the Mines and Geosciences Bureau under the Department of Environment and Natural Resources led a multi-agency crackdown on illegal operations in the area.
The campaign resulted in the dismantling of ball mills, diesel engines, and other mining equipment within the Financial or Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) zone of FCF Minerals Corp.