The 21 workers trapped in a tunnel which collapsed in China's Fujian province were rescued Saturday.
Rescue workers created an emergency air vent and the trapped workers confirmed the vent was working properly by knocking on the 27-metre-long iron tube.
The workers were trapped after "a 30-metre-long section of the expressway tunnel in Longyan city collapsed Friday", a rescue official told Xinhua.
An estimated 5,000 cubic metres of debris was blocking the tunnel, which was being expanded to accommodate the expressway linking Xiamen city of Fujian and Chengdu, the capital of the Sichuan province.
Hospital authorities have said that the workers were in stable condition and no one had suffered any injuries.