Rescuers described the survival of three men, who were alive after being trapped underground for 25 days in a flooded coal mine, a "miracle" and told the process of their rescue on Monday.
Li Xingwei, head of the Longchang coal mine in Qinglong county, southwest China's Guizhou Province, was the first to find the lucky trio.
It was at 11:28 a.m. Sunday, and Li said he just cleared a tunnel which was previously blocked after the disaster with more than 10 others, before they found light ahead.
"We crept along the tunnel in excitement, seeing someone sitting in front," he recalled.
Then Li asked the miners "how many people are there".
A voice answered weakly but clearly "three", and "we were from Henan".
While rescuers carried the miners on their back, Zhao Weixing, one of the trapped, said "I want some water" and Wang Quanjie, another miner, said "I want to go out".
He Minghua, a doctor with the People's Hospital of Qinglong, made physical examination for the miners.
"They were all conscious, and their hearts and lungs were in good conditions, and their blood pressures, breath and heart beats were steady," he said.
According to Wang Quanjie, they just drank water in the shaft.
Normally, human beings could live 10 days solely on water, said Yang Jie, a doctor with the hospital affiliated to the Guiyang Academy of Medicine.
He Sijun, a rescuer who had been doing rescue work in mines for six years, believed that their will played an important role in their survival.
"They were experienced," he said. "They tried to save their energy and firmly believed that they would be saved ultimately."
Another reason for their miracle was enough oxygen.
He found a source of water 16 meters away from where the miners were discovered.
"At the site where they were found there was water seeped in, and oxygen could go into the tunnel as well," he said.
The Xinqiao Coal Mine in Qinglong County was flooded on June 17 when 16 miners were working underground.
Rescuers found the first body on June 25.
The three miners were 36-year-old Wang Quanjie and Zhao Weixing, and 35-year-old Wang Kuangwei.
Zhao, who said he was feeling well, could now raise his hand from waist to chest.
Doctors supplied water and electrolyte to the three patients' bodies.
Detailed accounts from the patients were not available yet as they were not allowed to talk much by doctors on health concern.
Rescuers were encouraged by their miracle and the search for the remaining 12 missing is still going on.
(Xinhua News Agency July 13, 2009)
