Rescuers are ready for another mission to save the 12 workers trapped in the collapsed tunnel in this May 18, 2005 photo. All the trapped workers were rescued Monday morning and are treated in a hospital. [Xinhua]

BEIJING, May 23 -- Rescuers guided 12 weak and blindfolded workers out of a collapsed tunnel in southern China on Monday after they spent nearly one week in darkness, surviving on oxygen and milk transported to them through a narrow ventilation pipe, a Xinhua report said on Monday.

    One worker was carried out on a stretcher but the others managed to walk with support from rescuers, a TV footage showed.

    Large black blindfolds covered their eyes as they emerged to the bright lights of news cameras and photographers, China Central Television reported. All the men were in "good condition" but had been sent to a local hospital, the report said.

    Rescuers had to dig 55 metres (180 feet) into the earth to reach the workers trapped by Tuesday's collapse in Yunnan province, Xinhua said.

    "It was faster than we expected. We estimated digging at least 62 metres," an unnamed rescue worker was quoted as saying.

    The railway workers were able to communicate with rescuers during their ordeal through a ventilation pipe, Xinhua said. It did not say anything about how the workers were able to eat or drink.

    The collapse occurred Tuesday night around 10:30 p.m. (1430 GMT) in Yunnan province on the railroad that connects the cities of Guiyang and Kunming.

    An earlier report by the official Xinhua News Agency said rescuers were feeding the workers milk and providing them fresh air through a ventilation pipe. The reports did not say what caused the tunnel collapse.

    (Source: China Daily/Agencies)