Miracle rescue from flooded mine

But it also became a day for national celebration, when rescuers saved 115 workers who were trapped for more than a week in the flooded Wangjialing Coal Mine in Shanxi province.

"It's a miracle," Liu Dezheng, spokesman for rescue headquarters, told reporters on Monday morning after the first nine miners were taken out shortly after midnight.

"We believe more miracles will happen."

At about noon, rescuers carried out the second batch of 106 survivors.

One of the rescued workers raised his hands from beneath his blanket as he was lifted from the pit on a stretcher, footage from State broadcaster CCTV showed.

The survivor clapped his hands and tried to reach for his rescuers in an expression of joy.

The rescued workers were wrapped in blankets at the scene and some of them had their light-sensitive eyes covered as they were rushed to ambulances.

Rescuers also hugged themselves and shed tears of joy.

Both Shanxi Governor Wang Jun and State Administration of Work Safety Director Luo Lin called the rescue "a miracle" in the history of China's coal mine rescues.

"The trapped miners displayed an unwavering determination down the mine shaft to live through eight days and eight nights," Luo said.

"Scientific methods and technology used in the rescue also ensured that the miners were saved," said Shanxi Party chief Zhang Baoshun.

President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao both extended their regards to the survivors and praised all rescuers for racing against time to save those trapped in the past week.

At about 1:40 pm on March 28, underground water gushed into the Wangjialing coal mine, which was under construction, where 261 people were working. Of these, 108 were the first to be lifted safely to the surface.

Rescuers have been pumping water out of the mine in the past week.

By Monday night, 38 of the workers were still trapped in the mine and more than 2,000 rescuers were trying to reach them, Xinhua News Agency reported.

See www.chinadaily.com.cn