All the 16 coal miners, who had been trapped after a landslide in northwest China's Gansu Province on Wednesday morning, were rescued late Wednesday night.

The miners made efforts to get out of the well by themselves while rescuers on the ground struggled to reopen the pithead, Yan Chenglu, deputy secretary-general of the Lanzhou city government, said at the rescue site.

The miners seemed to have good physical condition as they stepped out of the well and were sent to hospital for medical checking.

The landslide occurred at about 10 AM in Deshun Coal Mine Fields in Honggu District of Lanzhou, capital of Gansu. The landslide blocked the pithead of the mine, trapping all 16 miners underground, and also buried some houses.

(Xinhua News Agency November 2, 2006)