A man trapped in a mine following a powerful earthquake that jolted southwest China's Sichuan Province a week ago was saved alive on Monday.

Rescuers said they heard a feeble voice calling for help from a manganese mine while searching the rubble in Honhguang Town of Qingchuan County on Monday morning, said Wang Taiping, director of a rescue detachment.

At around 11:00 AM, the rescuers recovered the man named Wang Chuanbang and six bodies near the exit of the pit. Right after they had pulled out Wang and recovered the six bodies, the pit collapsed.

Wang, 56, is a resident of Shiba Town. He was sent to Guanzhuang Town immediately and hospitalized at 3:00 PM in Guangyuan City.

Doctors said he sustained no serious injuries but suffered from dehydration, hypoxemia and renal insufficiency.

Another 61-year-old woman, named Li Mingcui, was rescued at 10:40 AM Monday from the collapsed dormitory of a power company of Qushan Town in Beichuan County.

She was sent to a military hospital immediately in downtown Mianyang City. Doctors said she was in her right mind when she arrived. She just sustained fractures in the left costae and the scapula and her internal organs were not hurt.

Her son, Zhao Jun, guessed that her mother might have survived the disaster by being close to water.

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2008)