BEIJING // A woman stranded for 16 days in an abandoned well in central China said on Wednesday that she shouted for help every day and began to lose hope, but that she managed to survive on raw corn and rainwater.

Su Qixiu, 48, was gathering herbs when she fell into the 4-metre-deep well in a village in Henan province on September 1. Her husband and children unsuccessfully searched for her, but she was finally found Monday by a passer-by, state media reported.

“I shouted every day in those 16 days. And spoke a lot of nonsense. I was scared and felt hopeless,” said Ms Su, who is still in hospital.

Ms Su said she lost around 15 kilograms during her ordeal and now weighs about 40 kilograms.

She said she was walking past a cornfield but could not see the road clearly and fell into the well.

“I ate some corn. It rained and I drank some rain, but not much,” she said.

ms Su said she could not remember being discovered, only a firefighter pulling her up from the bottom of the well.

Her two daughters and one son raced home from Shanghai, where they work, when they heard their mother had gone missing.

Henan Satellite TV broadcast images on Wednesday of Mr Su in the hospital. Her doctor, Ran Xiansuo, said that Ms Su at first was unable to speak and had organ failure, but that her condition had stabilised.

Ms Su said the doctor told her she needed to stay in the hospital for a few more days, but that she was feeling gradually better.

Associated Press