TAGBLARAN CITY – Two persons are confirmed lifeless and one still unsaved inside a hole they dug up in a cave in barangay Poblacion, Dagohoy town in a treasure hunt upon retrieval effort by rescuers. This, according to Erwin Cajilo of the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office in an interview.
The fatalities were identified as one Marcelo Augis, 57, Barangay Bay-ang Ubay, who was found at past 5pm on Friday and Raymundo Valmoria, 35, of barangay Casate, Ubay. They were believed to be suffocated by the gasoline they used in the digging.
Rescuers identified the other one as Gaudioso Añasco, 54, also of barangay Casate, Ubay, who was believed to be still inside the hole they dug, Cajilo said.
The rescue mission was terminated upon the order of Mayor Sofronio Apat due to the danger the hole posed and the use of gasoline for a gen-set the treasure hunters used.
“However, due to the hazardous condition inside the cave, retrieval operations for the remaining victim were suspended following the declaration of termination by the Municipal Mayor of Dagohoy,” BFP said in its statement.
The rescuers including the personnel of Bureau of Fire and Protection (BFP) initially found the victims had been operating inside the cave for almost a month. They used equipment such as a gasoline generator, extension wires, ladder, headlamps and jackhammer.
Cailo said the rescuers recovered no sign of treasure but a small deep hole inside the cave.
He said that nobody knows that there were men working for over a month, digging for buried treasure until after a tip from nearby resident. (Ric Obedencio)
