BAGUIO CITY—And now there’s only one man missing.

But it’s unclear if Joseph Anayasan, the last of 16 miners still unaccounted for, remains inside the abandoned gold mine of Benguet Corp. in Itogon town that was hit by flooding from Typhoon “Nina” (international codename: Hagupit) after they entered the mine on Sept. 22.

Two more bodies were recovered Thursday, bringing to six the number of fatalities.

Nine other miners have been rescued alive and are recovering at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center here.

Although the search continues, the case of Anayasan appeared to be shrouded in mystery.

Chief Supt. Eugene Martin, Cordillera police director, said Anayasan was rescued alive on Wednesday along with his brother Mario and two others.

Martin claimed that Joseph fled immediately after his rescue because he faced arrest for direct assault and frustrated homicide in a case filed in 2003 in Tuba, Benguet.

But rescue workers disputed Martin’s report.

Searchers return

George Baywong, a government engineer supervising the rescue operations, said miners and Philippine Navy divers returned to the tunnel Thursday afternoon to look for Anayasan.

“The Anayasan family is insisting that we go back and find Joseph,” Baywong said.

He said Anayasan’s relatives brought along a private mining engineer to help with rescue efforts and dispute reports that Joseph had escaped.

Fred Jacinto, former president of the Gold Field Saranay Community Miners Association Inc., said the Anayasan brothers were known to the group and had encamped beside its barracks before they went inside the tunnel on Sept. 22.

The bodies retrieved at 2:45 a.m. Thursday were those of Joel Bulga and Marvin Himmayod, officials said.

Hopes fading

A body recovered on Sept. 25 was mistakenly identified by an uncle and other relatives as Bulga. The fatality turned out to be Jojo Himmayod who was later identified by his mother. The Himmayods were relatives.

“We’re now focusing all our efforts to find the last miner inside the tunnel,” Baywong told reporters. “We want to get everyone out, dead or alive.”

Lt. Col. Edgard Arevalo, a Navy spokesperson, said the search and rescue operations could be called off later in the evening because hopes were fading of finding the remaining miner alive.

“Based on reports we’re getting from the ground, there’s very little chance of finding him alive,” Arevalo said.

Chewed on clothes

Late on Wednesday, rescuers found three men, who said they chewed on their clothes to survive for more than a week underground. Six men were found earlier this week.

Rescue teams, including divers from the Philippine Navy, took almost a week to clear the collapsed portion of the gold mine and reach the victims.

Heavy rain and a lack of oxygen tanks had hampered the rescue operation and last week officials had said there was virtually no hope of finding any of the miners alive.

Although abandoned by Benguet Corp., many local people still enter the mine to scavenge for ore. With reports from Vincent Cabreza, Inquirer Northern Luzon, and Reuters