Rescuers on Wednesday extricated a woman who had been trapped in a tunnel in a hydropower plant for nine days since the May 12 earthquake in southwest China.

Zeng Changhui, whose age was not immediately known, was rescued from a water diversion tunnel in Jinhe Hydropower Plant, in Hongbai township, Sichuan Province, near the epicenter of the 8.0-magnitude quake.

Accompanied by medical workers, she was airlifted by helicopter to a nearby hospital for emergency treatment.

Pu Jinhui, a doctor who tended her, said she suffered multiple fractures in her right arm, ribs and lower back.

Her injuries were not life-threatening, said Pu.

(Xinhua News Agency May 21, 2008)