BAGUIO CITY— Five small-scale miners died while working at a tunnel in Barangay Runruno, Quezon town in Nueva Vizcaya province on Tuesday.

Quezon town police said the bodies of the victims were found at 1 p.m. on Tuesday by Russel Boclog Tumapang, who was able to get into the tunnel.

He immediately reported it to the police and Barangay Captain John Babliing prompting retrieval operation to bring out the dead small-scale miners.

Police identified the victims as Daniel Segundo Paggana, 47; Lipihon Bumilyad Ayudan, 56; and Florencio Napudo Indopia, 63, all from Barangay Runruno; and Alfred Dulnuan Bilibli and Joval Bantiyan, both from Barangay Cabuan, Maddela, Quirino.

The two victims were inside a 300-meter-deep tunnel unaided by any breathing device and passed out after they ran out of oxygen, police added.

Retrieval of the bodies of the five miners is underway. — Artemio A. Dumlao