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China rescues 48 miners after four days in coalpit

BEIJING: Forty-eight miners were rescued after spending four days trapped in a watery coal mine in China's southwestern Guizhou province, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

The miners were rescued on April 1, four days after a miner accidentally dug through the wall of an abandoned, water-filled pit and flooded their mine in remote Yangliuchong village, Xinhua said. All had recovered from slight injuries, it said.

The trapped men used their helmets to partially bail out the mine and ate bark from timbers used to shore up the shaft, with some drinking their own urine to avoid dehydration, it quoted several miners as saying.

"The miners survived on grass and tree bark, which unfortunately has almost no nutritional value, but may prove to be of psychological help and facilitate alleviating hunger pangs," Xinhua quoted a local health official as saying.-Reuter