Coffee Powder, Water Drops: How 2 Men Survived 9 Days After Mine Collapse

Two South Korean miners survived by eating coffee powder and drinking water that dripped inside the vertical shaft that they were trapped in for nine days after a zinc mine collapsed in the southeastern town of Bonghwa.

The men, aged 62 and 56, were pulled out to safety on Friday night in a rescue that President Yoon Suk-yeol termed "truly miraculous". They had been trapped in a vertical shaft about 190 metres (620ft) underground after the mine collapsed on 26 October, Guardian reported.

Both men were in fairly good condition, media reports said, adding that they were suffering from hypothermia and muscle aches. However, the two are expected to be released from hospital in a few days.

The men shared 30 sticks of instant coffee while trapped underground, news agency Associated Press reported, and also pitched a tent inside the mine to keep themselves warm.

"Thank you and thank you again for coming back safely from the crossroads of life and death," President Yoon Suk-yeol wrote on Facebook after their rescue.

President Yoon also sent letters to the miners where he said that their miraculous story of survival gave "new hope to the Republic of South Korea, which has been stricken by grief," an apparent reference to a harrowing Halloween crowd surge in Seoul that killed 156 people last weekend.