China rescues 11 miners after two weeks underground

Chinese rescuers pulled 11 gold miners to safety Sunday (January 24)-- after two weeks trapped underground following an explosion.

But state media says 10 colleagues were still unaccounted for.

Television footage showed the first miner as he was brought to the surface in the morning, a black blindfold shielding his eyes from daylight as he was lifted out of a shaft.

State broadcaster CCTV said he was extremely weak and was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Over the next few hours, 10 miners from a different section of the mine, who had been getting food and medical supplies down a shaft from rescue workers last week, were brought out in batches.

Officials had said on Thursday it could take another two weeks to drill a rescue shaft through blockages to reach the group of 10.

China's mines are among some of the world's deadliest-with 573 mine-related deaths in 2020, according to the National Mine Safety Administration.

The January 10 explosion trapped 22 workers about 2,000 feet underground.

One miner is known to have died and ten are unaccounted for.