2 miners killed in gold tunnel collapse in S Philippines

Two miners have been believed killed when a gold tunnel collapsed in southern Philippines, officials on Sunday said. Days of continuous rains caused a mine shaft to collapse in Mount Magdiwata, San Francisco town, in Mindanao's Agusan del Sur province late on Saturday, according to mayor Jenny de Asis. But the bodies of Ronnie Lawangon, 36, and Glenn Casher, 27, both of San Francisco township have yet to be found over a day after the 4 p.m. incident in Manag-as Creek, Alegria village, as fears of new avalanche due continuous rains loomed, causing the local government to suspent retrieval operations, De Asis said. Local and provincial officials two years ago have ordered the stoppage of gold mining operations in the area due to environmental concerns. Landslides, cave-ins and other accidents are common in the gold- rich southern Philippines due to unregulated and geologically- hazardous illegal mining activities, killing scores of people annually, authorities said. Early January last year, over 40 people, mostly small-time miners, were killed in a rain-induced landslide that hit a mining village in Mindanao's Compostela Valley province.