Chinese rescue workers rescued four miners 36 days after an underground mine collapsed in eastern Shandong province, media reports said.
The miners, identified by the media as Guan Qingji, Hua Mingxi, Li Qiusheng and Zhao Zhicheng, were rescued from the collapsed gypsum mine Friday night, according to Xinhua. More than 1000 rescue workers were involved in the operation.
They were brought to the surface through an access shaft between 9:20 and 10:50 p.m. local time. They were immediately rushed to a local hospital and believed to be in good health.
Rescue workers said that they faced huge obstacles from the unstable geological structure.
"The two biggest obstacles were continual cave-ins and water outbursts underground that had threatened the lives of rescuers and forced the rescue operation to be suspended several times," Fu Wei of Shandong Provincial Work Safety Bureau told China Radio International.
Twenty-nine miners were working in the gypsum mine in Pingyi County of Shandong province when it collapsed on Friday, Dec. 25, as HNGN previously reported. Four workers escaped immediately after the collapse. Seven miners were rescued earlier, with one confirmed dead. Thirteen miners are still missing.
The owner of mine committed suicide two days after the accident. Four senior officials, including the county's Communist Party head, were sacked following the tragic collapse.
