国内英语新闻:9 survivors lifted out of flooded coal mine, sent to hospital

XIANGNING, Shanxi, April 5 (Xinhua) –- Nine miners trapped under the flooded Wangjialing coal mine in north China's Shanxi Province were taken out of the shaft Monday morning miraculously to safety, after 179 hours underground.

The survivors were immediately sent to a nearby hospital for medical treatment. Their blood pressure and heart rates remained normal after having being trapped in the shaft for one week.

One of the survivors, named Li Guoyu, 38, had a lucid mind and told doctors that he comes from central China's Henan Province. The identities of eight other workers were not readily available yet.

A rescued miner is taken to a hospital in Xiangning County, north China's Shanxi Province, April 5, 2010. Nine survivors were rescured out of the flooded Wangjialing Coal Mine and they were identified Monday morning. Rescue for other trapped miners at flooded Wangjialing coal mine is continuing

Li said they had been unable to pass urine for two days, because they dared not drink the murky water flowing in the tunnel.

A total of 144 other fellow miners remain trapped, but rescue workers heard banging on the metal pipe, indicating further signs of life.

Thousands of people kept standing along the road at midnight and burst into applause when the ambulances carrying the survivors passed by.