3 More Trapped Miners Rescued in Philippine

By TERESA CEROJANO / AP WRITER

MANILA — Three more miners were pulled out alive Wednesday after being trapped for nine days in a flooded gold mine tunnel in the northern Philippines, while five others remained missing, officials said Wednesday.

Rescuers applauded and high-fived each other as the men were carried out on stretchers from two separate locations about 700 feet (200 meters) underground in the mountain township of Itogon, said George Baywong, a Mines and Geosciences Bureau officer supervising rescue efforts.

They were rushed to a hospital, where they were listed in stable condition and undergoing tests. Six other survivors were rescued Monday and Tuesday.

Emergency room physician Manuel Quirino quoted Gilbert Natim, 24, as saying he was very hungry but happy to be alive.

"He said he was thankful to have found at least a small portion of the tunnel that was not reached by water," Quirino by phone.

Mario Anayasan, 40, was rescued, but his brother was still missing.

Rescuers are battling strong current and water gushing at the entrance of the tunnel to reach the other trapped miners, Baywong said.

The men entered the mine during a typhoon September 22 that rapidly flooded the tunnels, officials said. The bodies of two miners were retrieved September 25.

The miners said they prayed, first in the light from their lanterns, then in the dark when the batteries failed. Their only sustenance was rain water, leading one to try to eat part of his shirt to stave off hunger pangs.

Their attempts to swim to safety were stymied by high, fast-moving water.

"All of us are so happy we made it out alive," said 22-year-old Antonio Pagulayan, speaking Tuesday to The Associated Press by telephone from a hospital bed as he and two other survivors, intravenous drips in their arms, chewed betel nuts while celebrating their rescue with relatives.

The tunnels, dug decades ago in mountainous Benguet province, were abandoned in the 1990s by a gold mining company. The company had posted guards at two entrances to prevent accidents.

The trapped miners—working on their own with no permit—dug a narrow passageway to gain access to the tunnels, Baywong said.

The rescued miners managed to survive by standing on a ledge or seeking refuge in elevated portions of the tunnel where there was enough oxygen to keep them alive.

They survived on dripping rainwater collected in plastic containers.