Mine survivors enjoy 1st full meal in 10 days
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Survivors of the flooded Wangjialing Coal Mine in north China recalled how they had eaten scraps of paper and even coal as they enjoyed noodles, their first full meal in 10 days, on Tuesday, a day after their miraculous rescue.
"I want to have meat. Sausage would be better," one miner was overheard saying in the Shanxi Aluminum Plant Hospital, while holding a palm-sized bowl of well-cooked noodles with egg, tomato and bean curd.
He was believed to be a native of Yangcheng City, Shanxi Province, although reporters were not allowed to speak to him.
"I want steamed bread," said another miner in his 30s at the hospital, where 26 survivors from the accident are being treated.
"The miners are still too weak to eat solid food, after being starved for more than a week," said Liu Qiang, deputy director of the medical team with the rescue headquarters, Tuesday.
He said the survivors only had glucose and watery rice porridge after they were rescued on Monday.
He said 60 of the 115 survivors, who were initially taken to five local hospitals in Hejin City, were transferred to hospitals in Taiyuan early Tuesday. The remaining 55 patients were recovering in local hospitals and were in good condition.
The medical team still refused media interviews with the miners in order to "keep the patients calm."
"Some of the patients are still very agitated and talkative. It is not good for them to talk with reporters, but nurses have chatted with them about family-related topics as part of their psychological therapy," said Wu Ruixia, the nurse in charge at the hospital.
Xinhua reporters heard the miner from Yangcheng say he and colleagues built a wooden platform, while they were trapped underground.
"More than 20 of us huddled on the platform to stay dry in the flooded pit. We also built rafts in the hope that we might row out, but we failed," he said.
He was among 115 miners rescued alive from the mine on Monday after being trapped underground for eight days and nights.
"Many of us collected paper floating on the water, put it in our pockets and ate it when we felt hungry. We also drank the flood water. Some even chewed the coal to quench the hunger," he said.
A miner who said he was from central China's Hunan Province was in good condition in the Hejin People's Hospital. He said he was on his first day at work in the mine on March 28, when the flood occurred.
"All of a sudden, the exit was submerged. I attached myself to a pole with my waistband. I was in the water for three days," he said.
Doctors have prepared treatment plans for each of the survivors. After being trapped for more than 179 hours, many have severe dehydration and skin infections from being in the water so long.
