Rescuers recovered the bodies of three remaining small-scale miners trapped in a tunnel in Sitio Balcony, Barangay Runruno, Quezon town, Nueva Vizcaya province during retrieval operations on Wednesday evening.
Fire Officer 2 (FO2) John Roman C. Cachero, chief of the Public Information Unit (PIU) of the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP)- Quezon, said the rescue team retrieved the body of Daniel Segundo, 47, at about 11 p.m. Wednesday and Florencio Indopia, 63, and Lapihon Ayudan, 56, at 12:21 a.m. Thursday. Volunteer rescuer John Philip Guinihid died on Wednesday while his colleague, Johnny Ayudan, was recovered alive during retrieval operations for the trapped three small-scale miners.
Guinihid voluntarily accompanied Ayudan in entering the small-scale mine tunnel on June 24 to assist in the recovery efforts for Johnny's brother Lipihon.
Relatives and friends of Guinihid hailed him as a local hero for his bravery, selfless volunteerism, and extraordinary courage.
Five miners were trapped inside the tunnel on June 23 while mining.
Two of them were rescued on Tuesday, June 24, Alfred S. Bilibli and Joval Bantiyan.
They are recovering in a hospital.
Pastor Mario dela Cruz of Philippine Bethel Church Inc., one of the volunteer rescuers who entered the tunnel, said that insufficiency of oxygen inside caused the miners' dizziness, headache, unconsciousness, and failure to exit. Cachero said retrieval operations were difficult due to the existence of poisonous gas aside from the insufficient oxygen.
Responders from the barangay and municipal local government units, Philippine National Police (PNP), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), community volunteers, as well as personnel from FCF Minerals Corp. and OceanaGold Philippines Inc. conducted recovery and retrieval operations for the trapped miners.