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BAGUIO, Philippines: Two bodies have been retrieved from a flooded mine shaft in the northern Philippines but there was no sign that 14 other trapped miners were still alive, rescuers said Friday.
The authorities raised to 16 the number of miners trapped 213 metres below the surface near Itogon town when the mine flooded at the height of Typhoon Hagupit on Monday.
Rescuers retrieved the bodies, presumed to be those of missing miners, on Thursday, said local Mines and Geosciences Bureau official Felizardo Gacad.
"The two floated in front of the approaching rescuers," said Paeng Valencia, a member of a volunteer rescue team at the site.
Their recovery raised the Philippine death toll from Hagupit to 10.
Gacad said heavy rain thwarted an attempt by a Red Cross team with specialised equipment to find the other missing miners on Thursday.
The rains were induced by Typhoon Jangmi that was bearing down on the far northern Philippines.
"There are three possible locations that we have identified, and that is our target but the rains endanger the efforts," Gacad said.
"It's too risky underground," he added.
At least six people were killed in China when Hagupit battered southern Guangdong province after skirting Hong Kong, state media reported Thursday.
- AFP/yb
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