BEIJING - For once, it was good news that came out of the depths of a Chinese coal mine as 115 workers were rescued Monday after eight days and eight nights trapped underground in Shanxi Province.
The extraordinary rescue turned into an around-the-clock reality show, with state-run CCTV broadcasting live footage of the rescue workers carrying out the miners to a cheering audience. One miner gave a high-five to a rescuer.
Early Tuesday, crews recovered the bodies of five dead miners, but they said they were hopeful that 33 miners still trapped in the mine might yet be rescued.
The miners had been trapped since March 28, when what one survivor described as a tidal wave of water came rushing into the mine they were excavating in Wangjialing, 400 miles southwest of Beijing. They had hit an abandoned shaft full of water during the construction process .
"I am really amazed that the miners held on in the mine shaft for eight days and eight nights," Luo Lin, head of the State Administration for Work Safety, told CCTV.
Some of the survivors told rescue workers they had used belts to lash themselves to the walls of the shaft to stay above the water.
Rescuers had been trying to pump out the flooded mine for five days when on Friday they heard voices and tapping sounds.
By Sunday, enough water had been pumped out that the rescue crews were able to enter the mine on inflatable rafts.
David Feickert, a safety adviser to the government, said, "This is probably one of the most amazing rescues in the history of mining anywhere."
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