Rescued workers hugged their families and cried as they emerged from the No. 2 Mine of the Hami Coal Co. in China's Muslim Xinjiang region, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
One had been carried up on a rescue worker's back while the rest managed to walk on their own, Xinhua said. All were rushed to a hospital in waiting ambulances, it said.
Forty-nine miners were underground when the mine shaft flooded Sunday morning. Twenty-five managed to escape while rescuers worked desperately to save survivors who contacted the surface by telephone, Xinhua said.
China's poorly regulated mines are the world's deadliest despite repeated government pledges to boost safety. Many accidents are blamed on a lack of required fire and ventilation equipment or a disregard for safety rules.
Last year, more than 6,700 deaths were reported in explosions, cave-ins and other disasters. In the past month alone, 67 Chinese coal miners have been reported killed in fires and cave-ins.
