Chinese authorities rescue 11 out of 22 miners trapped underground in Qixia

Chinese rescuers pulled 11 gold miners to safety on Sunday, 14 days after they were trapped by an underground explosion, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Footage showed the first miner to be rescued, a black blindfold across his eyes, being lifted out of a mine shaft in the morning.

The man, discovered Sunday in a separate section of the mine to 10 workers who had already established contact with rescuers, was in "weak physical condition", CCTV said.

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The rescue operation, which has been able to get food and medicines to theminers, was expected to take at least another two weeks, authorities have said.

White bottles of food and water sent down to the trapped workers had a note stuck on them saying, "We are all waiting for you, keep going!", photos shared by propaganda department officials with Reuters on Friday showed.

The food items sent to the workers include millet porridge, quail eggs, pickles and sausages and medical supplies included disinfectant, masks and cotton socks.

"The physical condition, psychological condition and living environment of 10miners in the middle section of themineare good," the People's Daily, the official newspaper ofChina's ruling Communist Party, reported on Friday.

"Theminers continued to search for other trapped persons through laser pointer projection and loudspeaker shouting," it said.

A total of 22 workers were trapped in the Hushanmineby the January 10 blast in Qixia, a major gold-producing region under the administration of Yantai in coastal Shandong province.

One has died and 11 were not in contact with the rescue teams, according to a Xinhua radio report on Thursday.

At least 15 days may be needed to clear the "severe blockages" as rescuers continued to drill shafts to reach the 10 men, officials said on Thursday.

At the site, security was tight on Friday and Reuters journalists were not permitted to get close to the rescue operation.

Workers in orange high visibility clothing could be seen operating heavy machinery. At the entrance to the site, a medical tent had been set up to administer COVID tests for rescue workers.

About 570 people are involved in the rescue, the newspaper said.

China'smines are among the world's deadliest. It has recorded 573mine-related deaths in 2020, according to the NationalMineSafety Administration.