Manila  - Rescuers recovered overnight four dead bodies of miners trapped inside a flooded mineshaft in the northern Philippines, ending a frantic 10-day search and rescue operation, a regional police chief said Thursday.

Rescuers recovered two dead bodies before dawn on Thursday while two more bodies had been recovered late Wednesday from the shaft in Itogon town in Bengue province, 225 kilometres south of Manila, Chief Superintendent Eugene Martin said.

Martin said the recovery of the four bodies brought to six the total number of fatalities in the accident while 10 other miners were rescued alive.

Manila- Four more miners were rescued Wednesday after more than a week of being trapped in a flooded mineshaft in the northern Philippines, bringing to 10 the total number of survivors in the accident, a regional police chief said.

Chief Superintendent Eugene Martin said the four miners were rescued Wednesday afternoon from the mine in Itogon town in Benguet province, 225 kilometres south of Manila.

Martin said rescuers were rushing to recover three more miners still trapped inside the shaft as a new storm was threatening to cross the area later in the week.

Manila  - Thirty soldiers and eight pro-government militiamen were killed in nearly two months of clashes with Muslim secessionist rebels in the southern Philippines, a military spokesman said Wednesday.

Lieutenant Colonel Ernesto Torres said 146 more soldiers and 10 pro-government militiamen were wounded in the fighting with Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) guerrillas that started on August 10.

Torres said the military is expecting an escalation of clashes with the MILF rebels as the Islamic holy month of Ramadan ended on Tuesday.

Manila - Two communist rebels were killed Tuesday in a clash with government troops in the southern Philippines, a regional military spokesman said.

Major Armand Rico said the fighting erupted Tuesday afternoon when patrolling troops encountered about 20 guerrillas in Boston town in Davao Oriental province, 975 kilometres south of Manila.

One soldier was also wounded in the combat and was being treated at a nearby hospital, according to Rico.

Manila - Divers from two salvage firms began to retrieve toxic chemicals from a sunken passenger ferry in the Philippines Tuesday, a senior official said.

Transportation Undersecretary Elena Bautista said about 400 packs of hazardous pesticide endosulfan was retrieved from Princess of the Stars, which sank off central island of Sibuyan, 300 kilometres south of Manila.

The passenger ferry was carrying more than 800 people and at least 10 tons of endosulfan when it capsized in June after it was battered by strong winds and huge waves at the height of a typhoon.

Aside from endosulfan, salvage divers hope to retrieve four other toxic chemicals, although in smaller volumes, stuck in the cargo bay of the ferry.