Chinese miners freed after 25 days in flooded mine

BEIJING: Three miners survived 25 days trapped in a flooded mine in southern China by drinking dirty water and chewing coal, alocal official and state media said Monday.The men and 13 others were trapped when the Xinqiao Coal Mine flooded June 17. On Sunday, rescue workers burrowed through a collapsed tunnel and found the three miners sitting there holding mining lights, which still gave off a dim glow, said Wang Guangneng,a Communist Party spokesman in the Guizhou province county of Qinglong. The miners stayed alive by drinking water that seeped through the earth, Wang said. They also chewed on coal to stave off their appetite, the local paper, based in the provincial capital, reported.