SHANXIAN, Henan, Aug. 1 (Xinhua) -- All 69 miners who were trapped in a flooded coal mine in central China's Henan Province for more than three days were rescued by early Wednesday afternoon.

The first miner to emerge from the shaft was identified as Nan Jianning, who was greeted with roars and applause from a large crowd who had gathered anxiously outside.

Most of miners were so weak they could not walk by themselves and had to be supported by medical workers or transferred to stretchers. They were then taken to nearby hospitals.

The flooding occurred at around 8:40 a.m. on Sunday at the Zhijian coal mine in Shanxian county, about 200 kilometers west of Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, when 102 miners were working underground. Thirty-three managed to escape.

Rescuers said that the miners trapped underground were lucky inthe sense that, after the coal mine was struck by the flooding, the ventilation and communication facilities remained undamaged.

"The supply of milk through the ventilation pipe and availability of a fixed telephone line turned out to be important factors in helping the trapped miners preserve their physical strength and keep their spirits up," said one rescuer.

Rescuers poured 382 liters of milk through the 800-meter ventilation pipe at around 9:00 p.m. on Monday, followed by another 167 liters on Tuesday morning, to feed the miners who used their helmets to catch the milk, their only source of food in 76 hours.

An estimated 4,000 cubic meters of water poured into the shaft when flood triggered by rainstorms swamped the mine at 8:40 a.m. on Sunday. Rescuers pumped about 2,000 cubic meters of water out of the mine and cleared about 100 cubic meters of mud in the shaft.

Hundreds of rescuers, including 300 armed police, struggled to prevent more water from entering the shaft, clearing away the silt, and providing ventilation and oxygen to the trapped miners.

Li Yizhong, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, and Zhao Tiechui, head of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, were also at the coal mine overseeing the rescue efforts.

The state-owned mine was established in 1958. It was designed to produce 210,000 tons a year, but its actual annual output is 300,000 tons.