Forty-five miners trapped underground after a rock blast in a Chinese coal mine were brought to the surface on Saturday in a rare successful rescue, CCTV state television reported.
Eight people had been confirmed killed by Thursday's accident at the Qianqiu colliery in the central province of Henan, it said. Another 21 had earlier been brought out.
Emergency personnel had to dig a tunnel at a depth of several hundred metres to reach the trapped men, and CCTV -- which covered the rescue live -- showed miners emerging from the colliery's main lift more than 36 hours after the blast.
Some were still wearing their miner's lamps, and all of them looked tired and had blackened faces.
Most were able to walk, sometimes with the support of rescuers, as crowds looking on in the town of Sanmenxia live cheered.
The last miner to be rescued was carried out on a stretcher and immediately taken away by ambulance.
The miners were trapped by a rock burst -- a violent explosion caused by huge pressure -- moments after a minor 2.9 magnitude earthquake, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
A total of 74 people were in the shaft at the time, CCTV said.
The incident was the latest to hit the hazardous mining industry in China, and came days after a gas explosion at a state-owned coal mine in neighbouring Hunan province left 29 miners dead.
Earlier in October, blasts at mines in the southwestern city of Chongqing and the northern province of Shaanxi killed 13 and 11 miners respectively.
In 2010, 2,433 people died in coal mining accidents in China, according to official statistics -- a rate of more than six workers per day. Campaigners suggest the true figure is likely to be far higher.
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