Rescuers airlifted two injured miners who had been stranded in the mountains of Sichuan Province for 19 days after the May 12 earthquake Sunday.

Mi Chengfu and Liu Hongkun, aged 51 and 45 respectively, had been airlifted by a helicopter with the Hong Kong Government Flying Service at around 10 a.m. Sunday morning to Guanghan city, 25 kilometers north of the provincial capital Chengdu, and were taken to local hospitals.

The two miners were found on May 31 with their ribs and limbs injured in the mountains near Mianzhu's Qingping town after their colleagues were rescued and told authorities their whereabouts on May 28.

They had sufficient access to rice and water and thus survived, local sources said.

Rescue authorities parachuted six army personnel to the mountains to search for the two injured on Saturday noon after they spent two days locating them.

The six soldiers found the survived miners on Saturday afternoon and offered medical treatment for the two.

Five helicopters were dispatched to land and carry the two miners back on Saturday afternoon but failed due to unfavorable weather conditions, local sources said.

As of Saturday noon, The death toll in Sichuan's major earthquake on May 12 has reached 68,977, according to the Information Office of the State Council.

(Xinhua News Agency June 1, 2008)