(LEAD) 2 miners make quick recovery following rescue after nine days underground

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ANDONG, South Korea, Nov. 6 (Yonhap) -- The two miners rescued from a collapsed mine in southeastern South Korea are quickly recovering, according to their families on Sunday.

The pair -- both surnamed Park and aged 62 and 56 -- walked out alive after being trapped for more than nine days in the zinc mine in the county of Bonghwa, 244 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Friday.

They had been stuck in a vertical shaft about 190 meters underground since the mine collapsed on Oct. 26.

"My father ate well amid a good recovery and even walked with my mother to get cleaned up today," Park Geun-hyeong, a son of Park Jeong-ha, told Yonhap News Agency. The two are currently admitted at a hospital in the nearby city of Andong.

In a separate telephone interview, the senior Park said he is in good condition but has nightmares.

"I feel like I've been reborn and am experiencing this world for the first time," he said. "My wife is with me at night, but it's noisy when I'm sleeping. I think I'm troubled with nightmares."

He said he and his colleague started working at the mine around 4 p.m. on Oct. 26 and the collapse began around 5:40 p.m.

The two pitched a tent with plastic and made a fire inside a tunnel to fend off cold. Some 30 sticks of instant powdered coffee were their meals in the first few days.

The family of the other rescued miner also said he walked around a hospital hallway for a few minutes and is in a better condition than expected.

Their doctors said the miners can be discharged in days at the earliest.

khj@yna.co.kr
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