More than 110 workers were pulled out alive from a Chinese coal mine on Monday in what has been hailed as a miracle rescue over a week after the men were trapped by an underground flood.
So far, 115 survivors have been rescued from the mine in China's coal-mining heartland of Shanxi province, state media said. Some apparently survived on tree bark and at least one worker strapped himself to the wall with a belt.
The news from Shanxi, where 153 workers were trapped when the mine flooded on March 28, was a rare bright spot for an industry known for its poor safety record and more than 2,600 deaths recorded last year.
"How fantastic to be on ground again," Xinhua news agency quoted one 27-year-old survivor as saying.
The head of the State Administration of Work Safety, Luo Lin, hailed what he called "two miracles" more than a week after the accident, which authorities blamed on lax safety standards at the state-owned Wangjialing mine.
"The first is that these trapped people have made it through eight days and eight nights -- this is the miracle of life. Secondly our rescue plan has been effective -- this is a miracle in China's search and rescue history," Luo told China Central Television.
Liu Dezheng, vice-director of the Shanxi Work Safety Administration, said rescuers were still looking for the remaining 38 workers in the state-owned mine in China's coal-producing heartland.
State television showed survivors being brought out one after another, strapped to stretchers and wrapped in blankets. Towels covered their blackened faces to protect their eyes, light-sensitive after so long underground.
Groups of rescue workers wearing blue and orange jumpsuits loaded them into scores of awaiting ambulances, while medical personnel administered intravenous drips and oxygen.
"When we went down, we saw mine lights. We were really excited and moved. And then when we rescued them, we were even more excited," 29-year-old rescuer Liu Huawei told AFP as he prepared to re-enter the shaft.
"There is still hope for the people in the mine as they are at a high level."
Provincial Communist party chief Zhang Baoshun said he was told that most of the survivors were in stable condition and could speak, Xinhua reported.
Most were rescued from a platform above which rescuers had drilled a hole last week, ensuring those trapped had oxygen, the report said. Glucose was also sent down to the workers.
A rescue team captain, Chen Yongsheng, said the workers had survived on tree bark from pine trees used as supports in the mine under construction, and drank water from the pit to avoid total dehydration.
"The trapped workers were smart -- they gathered together in groups and rotated the use of their headlamps so that rescuers could see them," Chen said, according to the China News Service.
Rescuers used five-seat kayaks to pull them out, he said, according to Xinhua.
One doctor quoted by the Shanghai Evening Post said a worker had told him he had attached himself to the wall with his belt for three nights to avoid drowning. He then was able to reach a mining cart floating by him to reach dry ground.
Footage of the rescue scenes in Shanxi played throughout the day on CCTV as the country marked its annual "grave sweeping day," a national holiday to mourn the dead.
"I have two daughters and a son. I had to do mining work to earn money for them," said a 45-year-old survivor being treated in hospital. "Thank you very much."
As dusk fell, more than 30 ambulances and teams of white-clad nurses remained at the scene, an AFP reporter witnessed. Police provided heavy security.
At least 3,000 rescuers had been racing against time to pump water out of the mine. Late Sunday, a team of 100 rescue workers went into the mine and found the first nine survivors, before a second team was sent in.
The accident occurred when workers apparently dug into an older adjacent mine that had been shut down and filled with water, press reports have said.
The work safety watchdog blamed the accident on the mine owner, the Huajin Coking Coal Company, which failed to heed repeated warnings that water was building up in the pit days before the disaster.
Safety is often ignored in China's collieries in the quest for quick profits and the drive to meet surging demand for coal -- the source of about 70 percent of the country's energy.
Last week was disastrous for China's mining sector, with five separate accidents that killed 37 people and about 70 remain missing.
According to official statistics, 2,631 coal miners were killed last year in China -- or about seven a day.
In the deadliest recent disaster, 172 workers died in a mine flood in the eastern province of Shandong in August 2007.
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