Pumps start work on flooded mine
Source: Xinhua |
March 3, 2010, Wednesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
TWO of the four pumps at the rescue site of a flooded coal mine in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region began working yesterday afternoon to drain the water so the miners could be rescued, officials said.
Water gushed into the pit of Luotuoshan Coal Mine in Wuhai City, some 600 kilometers from the regional capital Hohhot, on Monday morning, the local work safety authority said.
As of Monday evening, one mine worker was confirmed dead while seven had survived the ordeal with slight injuries. Thirty-one people were still trapped or missing.
Preliminary investigations showed that water poured in when workers extended a tunnel in the mine.
Rescuers worked through the night to install water pumps and other rescue facilities. It was not immediately known how long it would take to drain the pit, which the emergency rescue headquarters estimated was flooded with about 100,000 cubic meters of water. The area covered by flooded water was 460 meters underground.
Five ambulances and more than 10 medical workers are waiting to aid the survivors.
Yang Xuelin, one of the seven survivors, described himself as "lucky."
"I saw a wave of water and eight people disappear before I realized what was going on," he said.
Yang had just finished the night shift and had reached a place about 800 meters from the mining platform where the flood occurred.
"There was water on the ground," Yang said. "Within a minute, the water rose to my waistline." Yang and 15 co-workers ran back to the mining platform and called the executive office for help.
"We were told to follow a particular route and ran toward a shaft," said Ma Chengming, another survivor. "We knew we should climb up the shaft, but there was nothing to cling to and the flood water had reached our chests."
Ma and Yang each grabbed a piece of lumber and floated on the rapidly rising water surface. Others followed suit, struggled with the roaring waves and waited to be rescued. "By then, eight of our co-workers had disappeared," said Yang.
By the time they were rescued in the afternoon, 37-year-old Gao Yanfa had drowned.
Water gushed into the pit of Luotuoshan Coal Mine in Wuhai City, some 600 kilometers from the regional capital Hohhot, on Monday morning, the local work safety authority said.
As of Monday evening, one mine worker was confirmed dead while seven had survived the ordeal with slight injuries. Thirty-one people were still trapped or missing.
Preliminary investigations showed that water poured in when workers extended a tunnel in the mine.
Rescuers worked through the night to install water pumps and other rescue facilities. It was not immediately known how long it would take to drain the pit, which the emergency rescue headquarters estimated was flooded with about 100,000 cubic meters of water. The area covered by flooded water was 460 meters underground.
Five ambulances and more than 10 medical workers are waiting to aid the survivors.
Yang Xuelin, one of the seven survivors, described himself as "lucky."
"I saw a wave of water and eight people disappear before I realized what was going on," he said.
Yang had just finished the night shift and had reached a place about 800 meters from the mining platform where the flood occurred.
"There was water on the ground," Yang said. "Within a minute, the water rose to my waistline." Yang and 15 co-workers ran back to the mining platform and called the executive office for help.
"We were told to follow a particular route and ran toward a shaft," said Ma Chengming, another survivor. "We knew we should climb up the shaft, but there was nothing to cling to and the flood water had reached our chests."
Ma and Yang each grabbed a piece of lumber and floated on the rapidly rising water surface. Others followed suit, struggled with the roaring waves and waited to be rescued. "By then, eight of our co-workers had disappeared," said Yang.
By the time they were rescued in the afternoon, 37-year-old Gao Yanfa had drowned.
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