JOIN US11 trapped miners rescued from gold mine in China
Eleven miners, trapped underground for two weeks following a blast in a gold mine in east China's Shandong Province, have been rescued, the state media reported on Sunday.
The rescuers set free two workers on Sunday, bringing the number of rescued workers to 11, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported.
Footage showed the first miner to be rescued, a black blindfold across his eyes, being lifted out of a mine shaft in the morning.
Rescue workers wrapped the barely responsive man in a blanket before taking him to hospital by ambulance.
Later, the broadcaster said another three miners were brought out from a different section of the mine, including one who was injured. No further details were given.
Currently, 633 people and 407 equipment are at the site for rescue operations.
Twenty-two miners were trapped about 600 meters underground following an explosion on January 10 at a partially built gold mine in Qixia, under the city of Yantai, in Shandong Province. One miner has died and 11 have not been in contact with rescue teams, according to a Xinhua report from last week.
Before Sunday, rescuers had established contact with only 10 of the miners, who are in good physical and psychological condition.
Officials said on Thursday it could take another two weeks to clear "severe blockages" before they could drill shafts to reach a group of 10 men who had been receiving supplies of food from the rescue team.
State media said earlier however that rescuers were hoping to reach the 10 men in the mine's 5th section on Sunday.