Two workers trapped in a collapsed South Korea zinc mine for nine days walked out of the operation alive, according to regional media.

Photo: Korea Times

 

A Korea Times report said the pair had been stuck in a vertical shaft at the operation in Bonghwa County about 244 kilometres southeast of Seoul since 26 October. They stepped out of the mine on 5 November at about 11:00 p.m. local time. They were at a depth of about 190 metres.

Both workers, surnamed Park according to the report, are in stable health after their 221-hour entrapment and were reviewed by a hospital. Rescuers told reporters at the site that they pitched a tent with plastic and made a fire inside a tunnel to fend off the cold.

According to the Times, rescue efforts intensified on 4 November after the miners were located using an endoscope sent into a drilled hole.

The site where they were discovered was a circular 100-square-metre space about 30 metres away from where they worked, where shafts from all sides are interlinked, the report added.

Source: Korea Times