Rescuers continue frantic effort but miners look to be lost cause
By Gillian Wong |
April 8, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
RESCUERS pumped water yesterday in a fading bid to find more survivors in the flooded Wangjialing Coal Mine in north China where 115 miners had earlier been pulled to safety in dramatic rescues after being trapped for more than a week.
The death toll rose to nine last night, Xinhua news agency reported. Another 29 miners are believed trapped in two areas and there have been no further signs of life.
"Now we're racing against time and putting efforts in full swing to concentrate on these two areas," Liu Dezheng, the rescue headquarters' spokesman, told a news conference.
With about 5,000 rescuers at the mine site, pumping water out was the top priority.
"It's only after we've pumped water out and cleared a way through that we can go in," Liu said. "If we can't go in, we can't rescue them. At the moment we have not had any contact with them."
He said there was also the threat of dangerous gases in the spaces underground that could either sicken both the trapped workers and rescuers or cause an explosion.
The lowered hopes come after Monday's dramatic rescues at the mine in Shanxi Province. The 115 miners survived for eight days underground by eating sawdust, tree bark, paper and even coal. Some strapped themselves to the walls of the shafts with their belts to avoid drowning while they slept.
A total of 153 miners had been trapped since March 28, when workers digging tunnels broke into a water-filled abandoned shaft.
Xinhua said yesterday that none of the survivors was in a serious condition and more of them were eating solid food.
One of the miners, Su Zexi, told Central China Television that quick thinking by a team leader saved some of the trapped workers.
"Our team leader Wang Jiming realized that the tunnel had a dead end. When the water started to rise, he cracked the tunnel open, and the water flowed away through the tunnel," Su said from his hospital bed, with an oxygen line hooked up to his nose.
"Then we got through and met another 50 miners from the other side," Su said.
"He and some other experienced older miners somehow found us a dry, warm place with enough air."
Wang Jiming told CCTV it was important to stay calm.
"I am a Communist Party member, leading more than 60 people," he said from his hospital bed.
"We found a warm place. I told them not to panic. When you panic, things get worse."
The survivors have been hospitalized in the nearby city of Hejin under tight security, with even relatives being kept away from some of them.
The security meant Yuan Zhusheng, a 42-year-old house builder from Hunan Province, was forced to stand across the street from the Hejin City Hospital yelling his brother's name. Moments later his brother, in white and blue hospital clothes, appeared on a balcony.
Yuan and his four friends cheered.
"I'm very excited to see him, because it is the first time since the flooding. ... I was so worried," Yuan said.
He said he had not spoken with his 48-year-old brother because doctors told him he needed to rest.
Xinhua said yesterday that the death toll from an explosion at an illegal coal minein central Henan Province last week had risen to 40 people from 19, with another sixstill listed as missing.
The death toll rose to nine last night, Xinhua news agency reported. Another 29 miners are believed trapped in two areas and there have been no further signs of life.
"Now we're racing against time and putting efforts in full swing to concentrate on these two areas," Liu Dezheng, the rescue headquarters' spokesman, told a news conference.
With about 5,000 rescuers at the mine site, pumping water out was the top priority.
"It's only after we've pumped water out and cleared a way through that we can go in," Liu said. "If we can't go in, we can't rescue them. At the moment we have not had any contact with them."
He said there was also the threat of dangerous gases in the spaces underground that could either sicken both the trapped workers and rescuers or cause an explosion.
The lowered hopes come after Monday's dramatic rescues at the mine in Shanxi Province. The 115 miners survived for eight days underground by eating sawdust, tree bark, paper and even coal. Some strapped themselves to the walls of the shafts with their belts to avoid drowning while they slept.
A total of 153 miners had been trapped since March 28, when workers digging tunnels broke into a water-filled abandoned shaft.
Xinhua said yesterday that none of the survivors was in a serious condition and more of them were eating solid food.
One of the miners, Su Zexi, told Central China Television that quick thinking by a team leader saved some of the trapped workers.
"Our team leader Wang Jiming realized that the tunnel had a dead end. When the water started to rise, he cracked the tunnel open, and the water flowed away through the tunnel," Su said from his hospital bed, with an oxygen line hooked up to his nose.
"Then we got through and met another 50 miners from the other side," Su said.
"He and some other experienced older miners somehow found us a dry, warm place with enough air."
Wang Jiming told CCTV it was important to stay calm.
"I am a Communist Party member, leading more than 60 people," he said from his hospital bed.
"We found a warm place. I told them not to panic. When you panic, things get worse."
The survivors have been hospitalized in the nearby city of Hejin under tight security, with even relatives being kept away from some of them.
The security meant Yuan Zhusheng, a 42-year-old house builder from Hunan Province, was forced to stand across the street from the Hejin City Hospital yelling his brother's name. Moments later his brother, in white and blue hospital clothes, appeared on a balcony.
Yuan and his four friends cheered.
"I'm very excited to see him, because it is the first time since the flooding. ... I was so worried," Yuan said.
He said he had not spoken with his 48-year-old brother because doctors told him he needed to rest.
Xinhua said yesterday that the death toll from an explosion at an illegal coal minein central Henan Province last week had risen to 40 people from 19, with another sixstill listed as missing.
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