Trapped Filipino miners survive by sharing 1.5 litre of water for more than a week

Itogon: Two miners survived by sharing a 1.5 litre of water for more than a week, while they tried to evade being totally submerged inside a flooded mine shaft in northern Luzon, a relative told Gulf News.

Jose Pano and Ngitit Pangulayan shared a 1.5 litre of water which they kept in a bottle. "They drank it little by little, and they finished the last drop on Monday, the day that they were rescued," said Pano's uncle, Jaylord Pano.

On Tuesday, doctors at the Baguio General Hospital pronounced them out of danger and were told to go home to their families.

"Both of them stayed on a ledge of Baguio Mines tunnel, at 600 feet below the ground. It was a good thing that the tunnel had air vents that gave the two enough oxygen supply," said Pano.

"When the water inside the flooded tunnel receded they became worried. They were afraid they would have no source of water if they remain underground for some more days," said Pano.

"Rescuers spotted them only when they put on the light on their helmets. They intermittently put on and off the light of their helmets to conserve their batteries," Pano said.

"They tried to contact other miners by calling on them but their voices were drowned by silence," said Pano.

Pano, the miner, managed to sit up while Pagulayan was on a stretcher when rescuers brought then to a hospital for treatment on Monday.

"All of them were found in good health condition despite their harrowing experience," said Engineer George Baywong, of the government's Mines and Geosciences Bureau, who is also head of the rescue operation that began on September 22.

Four more miners were found alive on late Monday night and Tuesday morning, bringing to six the number of rescued survivors. Authorities said eight more people are missing and nearly 100 rescuers are trying to reach them.

The men entered the mine in the Itogon town during a typhoon on September 22 that rapidly flooded the tunnels, officials said. The bodies of two miners were retrieved last week.