The rescue operation at Wang Jialing coal mine is still ongoing. The death toll has reached 25 with 13 others still trapped underground. Meanwhile, the rescuers have also released video images of how they worked underground searching for survivors.

39-year-old Zhang Longbin, a veteran miner recalls the situation underground when water suddenly started pouring in.

Zhang Longbin said, " I do not know when or where the water came from. I climbed on the wall for two days, there was wire on the wall, and I tied myself tightly to the wire and hung on the wall."

Zhang said he also helped other colleagues tie themselves to the wire, but they grew desperate as the water rose increasingly.

He recalls the water level at that time had reached at least 4 meters high. He had to hang on tightly to the wire and remain tied to the wall.

Some of their colleagues suggested they swim outside. But experience told Zhang that they had to give up that idea. It risked wasting their strength under circumstances where they knew nothing about the situation.

After hanging on to the wall for more than 50 hours, Zhang and his colleagues carefully checked the water level and then moved to higher ground.

He recalled they ate bark and anything they could find inside the tunnel, and drank the dirty water underground.

Zhang Longbin said, "I did not drink anything in the first 6 days, and before I was finally rescued I had a total of 13 mouthfuls of water."

After being trapped for 8 days and nights underground, they were finally pulled to safety through the joint efforts of both themselves and the rescuers.

Currently, both their physical and psychological conditions are gradually becoming more stable.

(CCTV.com April 10, 2010)