Four miners rescued after 36 days in China

Four Chinese miners who had been trapped underground for 36 days have been rescued, Chinese state media said yesterday.

The men were trapped by a cave-in at a gypsum mine in eastern Shandong province in December.

China's CCTV showed dramatic footage of one of the men appearing on the surface and then being taken to hospital. Seventeen people were trapped by the collapse. Another four were earlier found alive, one was confirmed dead and the fate of the others is unknown.

The four miners were rescued late yesterday; their eyes were covered by masks as they appeared on the surface, reports say. Local media say the men are in stable condition and are being examined in a local hospital.

More than 400 rescue and emergency workers have been involved in the operation. For several weeks, they were tunnelling down to the surviving men, and water and liquids were passed down through a narrow borehole.

The mine collapse in the town of Pingyi on the morning of 25 December was so violent that it registered at China's earthquake monitoring centre.