Manila - Rescuers recovered on Thursday bodies of two of the 16 miners trapped in a flooded mineshaft in a northern Philippine gold mining town, a police report said.

The report said the still unidentified bodies of the two miners were already bloated when recovered from the mineshaft Thursday afternoon in Itogon town in Benguet province, 225 kilometres north of Manila.

The miners entered the shaft Monday despite heavy rains brought about typhoon Hagupit that killed eight people in various parts of the country.

Earlier reports said there were only 13 miners trapped inside the shaft but police Chief Superintendent Eugene Martin said the total number of trapped miners was actually 
16.

Rescue operations have been moving slowly due to rushing floodwaters from the mineshaft and strong fumes from inside the tunnel.

Relatives of the victims remained confident that the remaining trapped miners are still alive and might have sought refuge from among the different branches of the the mineshaft that could have air pockets.

They believe, however, that the trapped miners could be running low on food and potable water.

Rescuers have begun using air compressors and oxygen masks in scouring the mineshaft and have pumped out water from inside the tunnel in order to hasten the search operations. (dpa)