Twenty-two of the trapped miners in a flooded mine in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province were rescued as of early Tuesday morning, Xu Guangguo, vice governor of the province said.

Rescuers move a trapped miner out of a flooded mine in Boli county in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province on the morning of Tuesday. [Photo/Xinhua]

The first six of the 19 rescued miners said "thank you" in loud voice when they were lifted out of the mine at 7 a.m.. Two of the 19 even walked out of the tramcar supported by rescuers.

The 19 miners were trapped in the highest position in the mine, and survived on dripping water underground in the past 165 hours, rescuers said.

Rescuers are still searching for the three missing miners.

Up to now, more than 130,000 cubic meters of water had been pumped out and the water level had lowered 36 meters.

The mine is one of many that have been operating illegally in recent years, despite the government's efforts to shut down small, outdated mines. The provincial government previously ordered the mine to stop production in 2007. However, the owner restarted production without permission on Aug. 16, according to the local work safety bureau.

The accident happened after the miners mistakenly drilled into a neighboring mine.