A landslide early Friday at a Philippines' open-pit coal mine killed five workers and left five others unaccounted, according to UPI. The incident was triggered by heavy monsoon rains at the Panian mine site on Semirara Island in the Antique district of the country. The mine collapsed and buried the victims, who were operating heavy equipment. The government's Department of Energy immediately ordered the suspension of the operations of the Semirara Mining & Power Corp. (SMC), the company which owns the mine, and announced a formal investigation into the incident. "The Department of Energy has ordered the suspension of the operations in Semirara Island and a committee has been formed to investigate the incident," deputy presidential spokeswoman Abigail Valte said in a statement. Five miners died in an industrial accident in 2013 on Semirana Island; mining was halted, and began several months later after SMC was cleared of negligence charges and agreed to enforce new safety rules.
