Workers rescued after week in collapsed tunnel

Rescuers guided 12 weak and blindfolded workers out of a collapsed tunnel in southern China yesterday after they spent nearly one week in darkness, surviving on oxygen and milk transported to them through a narrow ventilation pipe, state media reported.

One worker was carried out on a stretcher but the others managed to walk with support from rescuers, a state-run television report showed.

Large black blindfolds covered their eyes as they emerged to the bright lights of news cameras and photographers, China Central Television reported.

All the men were in good condition, it said, but were sent anyway to a local hospital.