China Miners Rescued After 36 Days Trapped

To reach the miners, rescuers drilled two access tunnels, the official Xinhua news agency reports. “We will remember you [rescuers] forever”, one of the miners said.

Four Chinese miners who were trapped underground since Christmas are finally safe after they were rescued on Friday.

Eleven other people in the mine at the time of the collapse made it to safety or were rescued earlier.

Dramatic footage released by CCTV showed rescue crews applauding as the men were brought above ground in Shandong province, eastern China, in scenes reminiscent of the Beaconsfield Mine collapse in 2006.

While four others were found alive 220 metres (720 feet) below the surface by detection cameras and were rescued today.

Medical staff were later shown by CCTV rushing one miner along hospital corridors on a stretcher with his eyes covered.

The gypsum mine collapsed on December 25, 2015 in Baotai Town, Pingyi County.

Two more miners are expected to be saved later in the night, rescuers told Xinhua.

The owner of the Shendong mine, Ma Congbo, drowned himself in a well two days after the collapse, according to Chinese State Television CCTV and the BBC.

In all, 29 people were initially trapped by the collapse: 15 have now been rescued and one confirmed dead, while 13 are still missing. Four local government officials have been fired.

The first signs of life were detected more than 200 meters underground on December 30. In the end, the capsule was not used, and the miners were pulled up on the make-shift harness, CNN reports.