Trapped miners in Anhui still alive: Rescuers
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-05-15 14:45
Rescuers said Monday they saw hope for some miners to survive Saturday's iron
mine collapse in Anqing, a city in East China's Anhui Province as they still
heard human voices more than 50 hours after the tragedy.
Vague voices were heard from a platform some 130 meters underground, where
eight miners, including a woman, have been trapped since Saturday morning.
"We're certain there's someone alive," said a fireman in the rescue team who
went 103 meters down the shaft Monday morning.
Waist-deep siltage at the bottom of the shaft kept the team from moving
further, though rescuers have been cleaning siltage since Saturday night.
Sources with the emergency rescue headquarters said a scaffold has been set
up in the shaft and medical workers are standing by to provide first-aid.
Following the collapse at the Dalongshan Iron Mine in Dalongshan Township at
4:50 a.m. Saturday, rocks, dust and water capped the ventilation hole and the
exit, making it impossible for the miners to escape.
A geological team is drilling a new ventilation hole through which rescuers
will provide the miners with water.
It is still unknown how many miners are alive.
The Dalongshan Iron Mine was founded in 1992 as a township-run company but
was privatized in 1999. It employs 15 people and produces 15,000 tons of iron
ore a year.
In the wake of the tragedy, the city government of Anqing ordered all local
mines to halt production for a safety overhaul. Enditem
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