Beijing, China (CNN) -- Twenty-nine miners trapped in a flooded mine in China were rescued after more than 30 hours, with crews lifting them out in rapid succession, state television reported Monday.
The miners emerged from the mine one after another and were loaded on gurneys, as state television broadcast the event live from Sichuan province. The crowd clapped as the last miner emerged from the Batian Coal Mine in Neijiang. It took rescuers less than an hour to pull out all 29 miners.
The miners were wrapped in blankets, with their eyes covered, to protect them from sunlight.
The oldest and youngest of the group received priority in the rescue, state-run CCTV said. Miners perceived as the most able-bodied were brought out last.
Emergency vehicles and hundreds of rescue workers, reporters, officials and other observers crowded the area around the mine.
All the miners would receive one-on-one medical care from nurses, an official said on CCTV.
CNN
