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Telephone A Lifeline For Trapped Chinese Miners
Beijing (AFP) Aug 02, 2007 Chinese coal miners who survived three days trapped in a flooded, pitch-black pit said they would have died if it was not for telephone contact with their rescuers, state press reported Thursday. "The most important reason for us being alive is that the telephone line was working," 32-year-old miner Yang Wanjun was quoted by the Beijing Times as saying. "It would have been all over if the telephone had stopped working." The 69 men were pulled out of the pit on Wednesday after 75 hours in the flooded mine in China's central Henan province. They said the telephone line, which remained in operation despite the flood damage, informed them of progress in the rescue operation and prevented them from attempting blind and risky escape efforts. "Whoever talked on the telephone would then let the rest of us know about what was going on," said Ji Wannian, another miner. "Without the hope the telephone brought us, any human would have gone mad after staying in that place for five minutes, and the only result would have been death. The telephone actually saved our lives." Head miner Guo Shitun said there was panic when the water first poured in. Three men, driven by fears of being trapped, wanted to swim across the section of the tunnel that was flooded but were stopped by the others. "Swimming several hundred metres in the underground water simply means death," he said. The miners organised themselves into groups of five so the weakest could be taken care of. The people in each group made sure everyone drank milk -- their only source of nourishment -- that was poured through an 800-metre (yard) ventilation pipe. The pipe also pumped in oxygen. Guo said he remained positive throughout. "I never thought about death. I am familiar with the mine -- it wouldn't kill us if the rescue was conducted in time," he said. The miners are now being treated in four nearby hospitals and are expected to make full physical recoveries, various media reports said. If the miners had not survived, the accident would have been one of the deadliest this year in China's coal mining industry, widely regarded as the most dangerous in the world. More than 4,700 workers were killed last year, according to official figures, although independent labour groups put the real death toll at up to 20,000 annually, with many accidents covered-up.
earlier related report A crowd waiting at the entrance of the Zhijian mine cheered while eager officials rushed to shake the hands of the dazed men, some of whom were so weakened by their experience that they had to be carried away on stretchers. "Through our hard efforts over the last 70-odd hours we have saved 69 lives and I'm really very moved," said the head of the nation's work safety bureau, Li Yizhong, who had travelled to the mine to oversee rescue efforts. "We faced a lot of difficulties that we were able to overcome." The first of the miners was rescued on Wednesday morning, with the final man emerging at 12:53 (0453 GMT) -- just over 76 hours after floodwaters submerged the pit -- according to a State Administration of Work Safety statement. There were 102 workers underground when the pit flooded. Thirty-three miners escaped immediately but the other 69 were trapped in a section of 600 metres (yards) of tunnels that were submerged. Rescuers, including a special unit of 300 soldiers, had to race against the clock and fight terrible weather conditions to pump the water from the flooded tunnel to reach the miners via an elevator shaft. To buy more time, rescuers pumped oxygen and poured 549 litres (1,153 US pints) of milk -- the miners' only source of nourishment -- through an 800-metre ventilation pipe. Bad weather had particularly hindered rescuers on Monday as they struggled to place water pumps outside the pit's entrance. Muddy conditions, pelting rain and fog had slowed the arrival of supplies. However, rescuers were able to maintain contact with the trapped miners for most of their ordeal through a fixed telephone line in the pit. The miners were taken immediately to several nearby hospitals in Sanmenxia city for health checks, where a doctor was quoted on state television as saying they were weak after their ordeal. Several of the men brought to Shanxian hospital were in rough shape on arrival but were improving fast, the medical facility's director, Zhang Zhaoxiang, told AFP by telephone. "They looked terrible when they got here but their spirits were high," he said. "But after a shower and eating they are much better." A Sanmenxia city government spokesman surnamed Li said all the miners would probably be back to normal health within a few days. The Zhijian mine, in a mountainous region of coal-rich Henan, is about 200 kilometres (125 miles) west of Zhengzhou, the provincial capital. If the miners had not survived, the accident would have been one of the deadliest this year in China's coal mining industry, widely regarded as the most dangerous in the world. More than 4,700 workers were killed last year, according to official figures, although independent labour groups put the real death toll at up to 20,000 annually, with many accidents covered-up.
Source: Agence France-Presse Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links Surviving the Pits
Weather Hits Efforts To Save Trapped China Mine Workers
Beijing (AFP) July 30, 2007Heavy rain and fog hampered efforts to rescue 69 workers trapped in a flooded Chinese coal mine for over a day, state media reported Monday. The state-owned mine in central China's Henan province flooded on Sunday morning with 102 workers underground, and only 33 were able to escape, Xinhua news agency reported, citing the local rescue bureau's headquarters. Efforts to save those underground were making little headway on Monday with hundreds of rescuers struggling to put in place pumps outside the entrance to the pit due to the muddy conditions and relentless rain, Xinhua said. |
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