QUEZON, Nueva Vizcaya -- Two of the five miners who reportedly died after they were trapped in a tunnel here were rescued alive on Tuesday during the retrieval operations by rescuers from the local police station, the Bureau of Fire Protection Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office and FCF Minerals Corp.

Senior Fire Officer 1 (SFO 1) Analyn Mallari, the Incident Command Center commander, reported that miners Alfred S. Bilibli, a resident of Maddela, Quirino, was rescued alive at about 2 p.m. while Joval Bantiyan, also from Maddela, was retrieved alive at about 7 p.m. the same day.

The two miners were retrieved in a 300-meter tunnel.

Mallari said that the retrieval operations are ongoing for the other three miners, who reportedly died when they trapped -- Daniel Segundo Paggana, 47; Lipihon B. Ayudan, 56, and Florencio N. Indopia, 63, all residents of Barangay Runruno here.

They were believed to be trapped beyond 300 meters.

Relatives of the trapped miners are hoping that they are still alive as retrieval operations continue. 

In a related development, Fire Officer 2 (FO2) John Roman C. Cachero, chief Public Information Unit (PIU) of BFP- Quezon, said the rescued miners were brought to Region 2 Traumatic Medical Center (R2TMC) in Barangay Magsaysay, Bayombong, Nueva Vizcaya.

Cachero added that the two miners were conscious when they were rescued and both claimed that they were trapped inside the tunnel due to lack of oxygen.  

Police earlier thought that five miners were killed based on the report of one Russel Tumapang, 29, a resident of Barangay Runruno, who discovered the victims upon entering the tunnel at about 1 a.m. Tuesday.

Police theorized that they were trapped and suffocated inside the narrow tunnel due to the absence of oxygen.