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Three of 11 miners who were trapped in a Honduran gold mine this week were rescued Friday morning, freed nearly two days after a landslide blocked their path out, CNN reported.

After rescuers brought the three out of the mine near the town of El Corpus, live footage shown on Honduran network Televicentro showed ambulances driving them away.

Scores of Red Cross volunteers, firefighters and others have been trying to free the miners since a landslide blocked a tunnel late Wednesday, El Corpus Mayor Luis Rueda said.

Information on the conditions of the three freed miners and the eight who remained in the mine wasn't immediately available.

The miners freed Friday had long been in contact with rescuers, who were able to give them water early in the rescue effort, the Red Cross said.

Before the rescue, Rueda told CNN that efforts to reach the miners were progressing "slowly and with difficulty," in part because there were risks of another landslide.

Fire department spokesman Oscar Triminio also told reporters that rescuers were not using heavy machinery, because the mine was unstable.