Fact Check

Was a Chinese Miner Found Alive After 17 Years Underground?

A Chinese coal miner was reportedly discovered alive in an abandoned mine 17 years after he had been trapped inside it by an earthquake.

Published May 12, 2014

Claim:
A Chinese coal miner was recently found alive in an abandoned mine 17 years after he had been trapped inside it by an earthquake.

On 8 May 2014, the web site World News Daily Report (WNDR) published an article reporting that a Chinese coal miner had just been found alive in an abandoned mine 17 years after he had been trapped inside it by an earthquake:

CHINA: MINER FOUND ALIVE AFTER 17 YEARS UNDERGROUND

A group of coal miners from the western province of Xinjiang, had an unbelievable surprise when the gallery they were excavating opened up on a section of an old mine, that was abandoned 17 years ago after an earthquake that caused some large sections of the tunnels to collapse. While they were exploring the galleries, they stumbled upon Cheung Wai, a 59-year old survivor from the 1997 accident, obviously in a rather bad shape. He was immediately taken to the hospital where a complete evaluation of his physical and mental states will be done over the next weeks.

Soon afterwards links and excerpts referencing this item were being circulated via social media, with many of those who encountered it mistaking it for a genuine news article. However, this report was just another fabricated clickbait story originating with World News Daily Report, a junk news site that publishes fictional "news" stories such as "Giant Housecat Now Available on Market" and "Apple Announces Release of Paranormal Communication Application."

David Mikkelson founded the site now known as snopes.com back in 1994.