2 miners confirmed dead

BAGUIO CITY – Rescuers yesterday found the bloated bodies of two of 16 miners trapped for three days in an underground gold mine in Itogon, Benguet, officials said.

As of press time, the rescuers had retrieved one of the bodies and were trying to get the other.

Officials initially reported 13 miners went into the mine shafts last Monday amid typhoon “Nina” that rapidly flooded the tunnels in the northern mountain town of Itogon.

Witnesses and relatives disclosed yesterday that three other men were also missing there, officials said.

Two teams of rescuers tried on Wednesday to find the miners, believed to be trapped about 120 to 210 meters underground, but backed off due to floods and low oxygen supply in one tunnel, said Neoman de la Cruz, Cordillera director of the Mines and Geosciences Bureau (MGB).

Rescuers resumed the search yesterday amid sporadic rain, battling neck-deep water in the tunnel, he said.

George Baywong, another MGB official, said he remained optimistic the other miners were alive but said they would soon run out of food and water and that the scant air was weakening them.

“I’d like to think that they are still alive,” Baywong said.

Nearly 100 volunteers from gold mining companies in the area, along with police and the Red Cross, were helping in the rescue efforts. Red Cross officials brought underwater cameras, electric generators and safety gear to the site yesterday.

The underground tunnels, dug decades ago, were abandoned in the late 1990s by a gold mining company, which posted guards at two entrances to prevent accidents. The trapped miners dug a narrow passageway to gain access to the tunnels, Baywong said. – Artemio Dumlao and AP