The eight workers who were trapped Friday in a collapsed railway tunnel in southwestern Guizhou Province were rescued Saturday afternoon.

Rescuers drilled a shaft leading to the trapped workers and took them out from the tunnel. The eight people are in good health conditions and can walk with the help of the rescuers.

They were sent to hospital for medical examinations.

The workers were constructing the second line of Liupanshui-Zhanyi section of the Guiyang-Kunming railway when the tunnel collapsed at 1:26 AM Friday, said Long Qiufang, secretary-general of the Liupanshui city government.

The 639-kilometer railway links Guiyang, capital of Guizhou, with Kunming, capital of southwestern Yunnan Province. It was built in the 1960s and was put into operation in December 1970.

(Xinhua News Agency February 7, 2010)