GUIYANG: The three survivors trapped in a flooded mine for 25 days in Southwest China's Guizhou province are smiling, reading newspapers in bed and feeling lucky to be alive, but doctors say their path to recovery is still far from over.

Wang Quanjie and Zhao Weixing, both 36, and Wang Kuangwei, 35, were buried by mountains of rocks in the Xinqiao mine in Qinglong county after it flooded on June 17 and were rescued on July 12. The flooded mine buried 11 and killed two.

The three are now speaking, moving around in bed and are on a liquid diet, said Zhou Li, chief of the department of medical affairs at the Affiliated Hospital of Guiyang Medical College.