4 diggers electrocuted in hole in Danao City

Four men, three of whom were  believed to be treasure hunters, were electrocuted while digging a hole in the ground behind the barangay hall of Maslog in Danao City, north Cebu.

The site, a few meters from the seashore, started to fill with water during high tide about 10 a.m.

Water came in contact with an electric wire of the  water pump they were using and  sent an  electric current into the pit, estimated to be 15 feet deep and six feet wide, said PO3 Marlon Remollo of the Danao City police station.

The bodies of Ernesto Ogabang, 49; Amik Bukonseho, 52; Jess Christian Miguel, 21; and Junnel Mayol, 19, remained under water in the hole for at least seven hours.

At 6 p.m., police and rescuers retrieved the bodies of Mayol and Ogabang after pumping out water.

At 8 p.m., Bukonseho’s body was retrieved. As of 8 p.m., rescuers were still trying to recover  Miguel’s  remains.

The men were  digging the hole in sitio Masdan  in the morning of Dec. 26, a non-working holiday.

The area,  muddy and filled with nipa palm plants, is owned by the Danao city government.

Remollo said that Mayol tried to rescue his three companions who were calling out for help  but, he too, suffered an electric shock when his hands and feet got wet.

He fell into the pit.

Stories of buried treasure left during the Japanese occupation in World War II, although unverified, continue to spur  clandestine excavations in Danao city and other parts of Cebu.

Remollo said the victims could have been saved if their families and neighbors had immediately called for help.

The police received the call two hours after the accident.

“They reported the accident late. The  water in the hole was already deep. Aside from that, we  lack equipment to retrieve the bodies,” said Remollo.