Manila - Rescuers struggled Wednesday to save 13 miners trapped for two days in a flooded shaft in the northern Philippines as the nation's death toll from Typhoon Hagupit rose to eight, officials said.

The rescue operation was slowed down by floodwaters inside the mineshaft in Itogon town in Benguet province, 225 kilometres north of Manila, said Chief Superintendent Eugene Martin, a regional police chief.

The miners entered the shaft late Monday despite heavy rains brought by Hagupit, which pummelled large parts of the Philippines for three days, triggering flashfloods and landslides.

The National Disaster Coordinating Council said the storm killed eight people, left 15 missing and displaced more than 10,000.

Cotabato City, Philippines - Two Muslim secessionist rebels were killed in a clash with government troops in the southern Philippines, a regional military spokesman said Wednesday.

The fighting erupted Tuesday when government troops caught up with fleeing Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels in Guindulungan town in Maguindanao province, 960 kilometres south of Manila, Major Armand Rico said.

Two soldiers were wounded in the fighting and were being treated at a hospital in nearby Cotabato City, Rico said.

Hong Kong - Hong Kong braced for Typhoon Hagupit Tuesday, cancelling dozens of flights and ferry services, after the storm killed five people and left four missing in the Philippines.

Two of the people killed in the Philippines drowned in a swollen river in the central province of Antique, two were buried in landslides in the northern city of Baguio and one was electrocuted in the northern province of La Union, relief officials said.

Rescuers were also struggling to extricate 13 miners trapped in a flooded shaft of a goldmine in Itogon town in Benguet province, 225 kilometres north of Manila.

Manila - The United States on Tuesday presented rewards totalling 900,000 dollars to 12 Filipino seamen who helped successfully prosecute polluters of US waters.

Manila - Five people were killed and four remained missing in various accidents in areas pummeled by storm Hagupit in the Philippines, relief officials said Tuesday.

Two of the fatalities were drowned in a swollen river in the central province of Antique, two were buried in landslides in the northern city of Baguio and one was electrocuted in the northern province of La Union.

Rescuers were also struggling to extricate 13 miners trapped in a flooded shaft in a goldmine in Itogon town in Benguet province, 225 kilometres north of Manila.

Manila - Communist rebels ransacked a police station in a remote town in the southern Philippines and carted away a still undetermined amount of office equipment, a police report said Tuesday.

The rebels barged into the facility late Monday in Las Nieves town in Agusan del Norte province, 810 kilometres south of Manila, and hog-tied a police aide manning the station.

Investigators were still determining if the rebels were able to seize guns inside the armory. There was no police officer in the station when the incident occurred.

There was no reported casualties in the attack.