Miner Wang Chunbang, trapped for 164 hours in a quake-torn manganese pit in Qingchuan, northern Sichuan Province, is now recovering in hospital.

Wang, 56, has remained in a fair state since he was sent to the central hospital of Guangyuan City, one of the worst hit areas by quake, at 10:30 PM on Monday, said Ma Bing, vice president of the hospital.

After being trapped in rubble for a long time, many quake survivors easily succumb to exhaustion caused by too great a demand on their remaining physical strength once rescued, said Ma.

The miner, who worked in a manganese pit between Hongguang and Shiba, two townships in Qingchuan, recalled when the 8-magnitude quake struck at 2:28 PM on May 12, he and six other co-workers were on the way to the surface having finished a work shift.

The pit collapsed because of a landslide triggered by the quake, Wang was trapped inside the tramcar in a crack formed near the entrance to the pit.

"In the first two days after the powerful quake, I could hear footsteps, so I called out for help, but was ignored by passersby. Maybe the place where I was trapped was too dangerous to approach, " said Wang, who had been wrongly identified as Wang Chuanbang in a separate report.

Wang said he drank urine to keep water in his body when he was trapped. He was found at 9:00 AM on Monday by People's Liberation Army rescuers.

Yang Guanghui, one of the rescuers who saved Wang, said one family member of the trapped miners informed the PLA rescuers of the miners' plight and led the rescuers to the pit.

"There were plenty of aftershocks after the powerful quake on May 12 and repeated collapses of the pit tunnel might be possible at any time, which many who wanted to save the miners but had to give up out of a concern for their own safety," said Yang.

"While we found the corpses of two miners at the entrance of the pit, one of us rescuers heard Wang's weak breathing, so we decided to move further into the pit tunnel and reach him," said Yang, "shortly after we pulled Wang out into the open, the entrance of the pit was destroyed and blocked amid aftershocks."

The miner was quickly rushed by the rescuers to the central hospital of Guangyuan City on foot for further medical treatment.

Medical workers at the hospital found that Wang had sustained no serious injuries, except dehydration, hypoxemia and renal insufficiency, after having given him with oxygen and necessary liquid.

Between 11:00 PM on Monday to 3:00 AM on Tuesday, Wang was fed with 200 ml of milk diluted with sugar water, according to Doctor Chen Jing, who has been tending the miner.

"Wang has worked a wonder of life," exclaimed Ma Bing, vice president of the Guangyuan City Central Hospital, "Ordinary people will die without water."

"Wang still needs a 24-hour observation," said the hospital official, "Our hospital has gone all out to cure him."

(Xinhua News Agency May 20, 2008)