2010-04-17 00:19

TAIYUAN -?Sixty-Five of the 115 miners rescued from a flooded coal mine in north China's Shanxi Province have been discharged from hospital as of 6 pm Friday.

The miners were pulled out from a flooded colliery on April 5 after being trapped for more than a week underground.

They were initially treated in five local hospitals in Hejin City, where the mine is located.

Sixty were later transferred to three big hospitals in Taiyuan, the provincial capital, for further treatment.

"Being in this hospital for the last 10 days has been the warmest experience in my entire life," said Tang Aijun who was discharged from the No.1 Hospital affiliated to Shanxi Medical University in Taiyuan.

He thanked the doctors who had taken care of him while he was vulnerable both physically and mentally after the accident.

The flooding had claimed 37 lives as of Wednesday. Rescuers are searching for one more miner who is believed still trapped underground.

Altogether 261 miners were working in the shaft when the flooding happened at about 1:40 pm on March 28, and only 108 immediately got out unharmed.

Besides the 65 discharged, another 48 workers had recovered and would be released soon, according to the provincial health bureau. The remaining two were still receiving medical treatment, but were not in critical condition.