By 堵文娟
Updated: 2007-08-01 14:26

Nan Jianning, the first miner rescued, is carried out from an ambulance to receive treatment in a hospital in Shanxian county, Central China's Henan Province August 1, 2007. [Xinhua]

SHANXIAN -- All sixty-nine miners who have been  trapped in a flooded coal mine for more than three days were rescued alive by 12:54 Wednesday in Central China's Henan Province, rescuers said.

The first man rescued, who was identified as Nan Jianning, met with an applauding crowd when he was brought to the ground. The last to come out was known as Cao Baicheng.

Most miners rescued were escorted by rescuers and medical workers, as they could not walk on their own, while some miners had to be put on stretchers.

Bearing smiles on their faces, the saved miners were greeted with loud applauses of the crowd waiting anxiously outside the mine entrance when they were brought to the ground, and they exchanged greetings with the crowd.

The miners were soon rushed to nearby hospitals. About 25 ambulances and 160 medical staff are standing by for the rescue.  

The flooding occurred at around 8:40 a.m. Sunday at the Zhijian coal mine in Shanxian county, about 200 kilometers west of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, when 102 miners were working underground.

Thirty-three managed to escape.