I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES

Ng Han Guan / AP

More than 100 miners freed in China ‘miracle’

Survivors were trapped in flooded underground shafts for more than a week

XIANGNING, China - More than 100 Chinese miners were pulled out alive Monday after being trapped for more than a week in a flooded coal mine, sparking cheers among the hundreds of rescue workers who had raced to save them and almost given up hope.

Rescuers in tears hugged each other at the scene, which was broadcast live on national television. The sudden surge in rescues was a rare piece of good news for China's mining industry, the deadliest in the world. A rescue spokesman said 115 survivors had been pulled out as of 4:30 p.m. local time (4:30 a.m. ET).

"A miracle has finally happened," a rescue headquarters spokesman, Liu Dezheng, told reporters Monday morning, after the first nine miners were taken out shortly after midnight. "We believe that more miracles will happen." ...

...Of the 153 initially trapped, there are still 38 miners in the shaft. Rescuers expressed confidence Monday they could be saved but did not say whether there had been any contact with them.

"This is probably one of the most amazing rescues in the history of mining anywhere," said David Feickert, a coal mine safety adviser to the Chinese government. ...

...The miners were in their eighth day underground when rescuers were finally able to reach them. Conditions underground remained complicated by high murky water. A total of 153 workers had been trapped.

The first rescue early Monday morning had seemed beyond hope for days before crews finally heard tapping from deep underground Friday.

The miners had been trapped since March 28 when workers digging tunnels broke into a water-filled abandoned shaft. Rescuers then scrambled to understand the complicated situation underground. Some workers appeared to be trapped on upper platforms of the mine by a V-shaped shaft that was swamped with water.

The challenge has been to pump out enough water to even enter the mine safely. Divers who entered Saturday afternoon came back within a couple of hours, saying the black, murky water made reaching the platforms very difficult.

It was unclear Monday how deep into the mine the rescued workers had been found.

"The miners in the lowest levels will be in the most extreme danger," Feickert said. "Just think of a tall building, with people on different floors, if that suddenly filled up with water."

Survivors hung from shaft walls

Some of the soaked miners had hung from shaft walls by their belts for days to avoid falling into the water when asleep. Hundreds of rescuers were underground with hopes that glimpses of swinging lights and new tapping sounds meant even more survivors could be found.

Liu said the first batch of nine rescued miners were in stable condition. The state-run Xinhua News Agency said all nine were conscious and could say their names and hometowns, but their bodies had suffered from being soaked for so long. Television footage showed at least one miner was brought out barefoot. ...

© 2010 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

Yes, I believe in Miracles! What a great story to start the day!