In a surprising turn of events, two of the five miners earlier reported by police as dead were rescued alive on Tuesday, June 24, after being trapped deep inside a tunnel in Quezon town, Nueva Vizcaya.
The rescue operation—conducted by personnel from the local police station, Bureau of Fire Protection, Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, and FCF Minerals Corporation—brought hope to the ongoing mission.
Senior Fire Officer 1 (SFO1) Analyn Mallari, commander of the Incident Command Center, confirmed that Alfred S. Bilibli, a resident of Maddela, Quirino, was pulled out alive around 2:00 p.m., followed by fellow miner Joval Bantiyan, also from Maddela, who was rescued at about 7:00 p.m. Both were retrieved from a depth of 300 meters inside the tunnel.
Retrieval efforts continue for the remaining three miners—Daniel Segundo Paggana, 47; Lipihon B. Ayudan, 56; and Florencio N. Indopia, 63—all residents of Barangay Runruno. They are believed to be trapped deeper than the 300-meter mark.
Relatives of the trapped miners are clinging to hope as authorities and volunteers press on with the operation.
In a related development, Fire Officer 2 (FO2) Jjohn Roman C. Cachero, chief of the Public Information Unit (PIU) of BFP–Quezon, said the two rescued miners were brought to Region 2 Trauma Medical Center (R2TMC) for medical checkups and treatment.
Cachero added that the miners were conscious when found and claimed they had been trapped due to a lack of oxygen.
The miners were initially believed dead based on the account of Russel Tumapang, 29, a resident of Barangay Runruno, who discovered signs of the incident upon entering the tunnel around 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, police reported that two of the rescuers, identified as John Guinid, 22, and Johhny Ayudan, 38, collapsed during the retrieval operation and were left behind in the tunnel by his team members. (Freddie Lazaro, Liezlie Basa Iñigo)
