August 02, 2007	Thursday	Rajab 17, 1428

BEIJING, Aug 1: Sixty-nine workers trapped in a flooded Chinese coal mine for more than three days were pulled out alive on Wednesday, state press reported. The official Xinhua news agency cited local officials as saying all 69 of the miners had been rescued, some of whom had to be carried on stretchers to waiting ambulances after their terrifying ordeal.

Dramatic footage broadcast on state-run television showed filthy miners stumbling as they emerged from the mine wearing blindfolds to give their eyes time to adjust to daylight.—AFP