69 miners survive 75-hour ordeal
All 69 miners who were trapped for more than three days in a flooded coalmine in Central China's Henan Province were rescued yesterday.
The first of the miners, identified as Lan Jianning, was pulled out of shaft at 11:38 am; and the last, Cao Baicheng, at 12:54 pm.
Most of the miners appeared exhausted and walked with the support of medical workers.
They were blindfolded to protect their eyes from the shock of broad daylight after 75 hours in darkness.
All of them were immediately taken to nearby hospitals in the city of Sanmenxia.
Footage from Henan TV showed Lan Jianning telling Xu Guangchun, Party secretary of Henan: "I am feeling all right." He was lying in a hospital bed, still blindfolded.
A doctor told TV reporters that all of them exhibited "normal bodily signs" after physical checks.
"Fear, coupled with hunger, left all of them very weak," he said, "And some have fever after prolonged exposure to wet air."
They are expected to recover in a week, he added.
Li Yizhong, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, said he felt "hugely relieved" when he saw the miners being pulled out one after another, quoting a Chinese saying to describe his feeling: "A huge stone has been lifted from my heart."
He added: "It's one of the most successful rescue operations in recent years."
The flooding occurred at around 8:40 am on Sunday at Zhijian coal mine in Shanxian county, about 200 km west of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan. Of the 102 miners working underground, 33 managed to escape.
Rescuers said that the miners were fortunate that they were trapped in a place where ventilation and communication facilities were undamaged.
"The supply of milk through the ventilation pipe and availability of a fixed telephone line were crucial in helping the trapped miners preserve their physical strength and keep their spirits up," one rescuer said.
China Daily-Xinhua
(China Daily 08/02/2007 page1)
