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Miners alive after 25 days underground

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-13 13:57

Three Chinese miners survived for 25 days trapped underground by licking water off the walls of their coal mine, media reports said on Sunday.

A medical worker takes care of one of the three survivors who have been trapped in a flooded mine for 25 days at a makeshift tent in Qinglong county, southwest China's Guizhou Province Sunday, July 12, 2009. [Xinhua]

The buried miners eventually caught sight of a rescuer's flashlight and shouted, enabling searchers to follow the sound to the pit where they lay, CCTV said.

Related readings:  Eight killed in N China iron mine blast identified  Death toll rises to six in Xinjiang coal mine gas blast  All 7 workers rescued from flooded gold mine  15 trapped in SW China coal mine flooding

The Xinqiao mine, in southwestern China's Guizhou province, was flooded on June 17. At least one miner's body was found on June 25, but 12 are still missing.

The three miners, in their mid-30s, were in a stable condition when they were lifted from the mine earlier on Sunday and could communicate in simple sentences, CCTV said. Only one was able to walk.

They were administered an IV drip but were not strong enough to be taken to hospital immediately.