Miracle is the most frequently used word to describe the rescue of the 115 workers alive after being trapped for more than a week. But how did they survive their ordeal?

Days were desperately passing, but their desire for survival refused to dim.

Eating pine bark and drinking murky underground water, helped maintain the workers' strength for more than a week.

Several of them gathered together and took turns to swing their mine lamps in a bid to be found.

Chen Yongsheng, rescue team leader, said, "When we got down to the platform, we saw the swaying lamp lights. That's how we found the first group of nine survivors."

Some survivors said when the water reached their platform, they tied themselves to pillars with their belts. After three days in the water, two tramcars floated towards them which they boarded and waited there another five days.

Liu Huawei, rescuer, said, "The first man we rescued told us that he wanted to see his wife and child the most."

All the survivors were immediately sent to nearby hospitals. But the medical team is refusing to allow the workers to be interviewed by the media to allow them time to recover.

Doctors say some of them are still very agitated and talkative. Nurses are talking to them about family-related topics as part of their psychological therapy.