Trapped for 9 days, two miners emerge unscathed from a collapsed mine: The South Korean president speaks of a miracle

For South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol, the return of these miners after more than nine days in a collapsed zinc mine is "truly miraculous".

In South Korea, two miners were trapped for more than nine days in a collapsed zinc mine. On Friday, they miraculously made it out alive in an arduous rescue operation, authorities said.

The two men were trapped some 190 meters deep in a vertical shaft of the mine, which collapsed on October 26 in Bonghwa, in the east of the country.

Impressive images broadcast by television channels show them getting out of the mine on Friday, helped by rescuers.

2 miners rescued from collapsed mine#Bonghwa #mine #Arirang_News pic.twitter.com/KFMVme3Tv8

— Arirang News (@arirangtvnews) November 6st

South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol called their return "truly miraculous".
“Thank you and thank you again for coming back safe and sound (when you were) at the crossroads between life and death,” he wrote on Facebook on Saturday, also thanking the rescuers.

According to the authorities, the two survivors, aged 56 and 62, warmed themselves by making a fire. They also allegedly made a plastic tent inside a tunnel.

The survivors "had instant coffee with them and I was told they made it their meal," said Lim Yoon-sook, a fire official. They also "survived by drinking the water that fell inside the gallery", he added.

MC (With AFP)

Image credit: Shutterstock/Nick Beer