SHIJIAZHUANG, China, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- A Chinese miner has been pulled out of a collapsed gypsum mine in north China after spending 11 days underground.
Yuan Shenglin, 26, survived the Hebei province mine collapse that killed 33 people Nov. 6 because he was in a 5-foot-wide winch house at the time of the cave-in and probably had access to water, a local government official said.
The China Daily reported Friday that rescuers searching more than 650 feet underground for five people missing after the mine collapse heard a voice Wednesday afternoon.
They inserted a plastic tube more than 16 feet through a heap of collapsed rubble and pumped in food and water to Yuan.
The rescuers did not dare to dig a tunnel immediately for fear of another collapse and took a day to carefully build a channel from an adjacent mine before they could bring Yuan above ground Thursday.
"Please send a message to my family that I'm still alive," Yuan reportedly told rescuers when the first contact was made Wednesday.
