Society

China working all-out for 31 trapped in mine flood

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-03-02 14:12

WUHAI, Inner Mongolia - Two of the four pumps at the rescue site of a flooded coal mine in north China's Inner Mongolia autonomous region have begun working as of Tuesday afternoon to drain the water so the miners could be rescued, officials told a press conference.

Water gushed into the pit of Luotuoshan Coal Mine in Wuhai city, at least 600 kilometers from the regional capital Hohhot at around 7:30 am Monday, 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. So far, two pumps are working and a third is being installed.

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 give first-aid to 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."

Yang, an excavator from northwestern Shaanxi province, 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," said Yang. "Within a minute, the water rose to my waistline."

Yang and his 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 towards 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. The seven survivors were sent to Wuhai People's Hospital. None of them suffered critical injuries, said their doctor Zhang Wei.

The accident has aroused attention of the central government. Premier Wen Jiabao ordered "all-out rescue efforts" Monday night and Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang arrived in Wuhai to oversee the rescue operation.

Luotuoshan Coal Mine is owned by Wuhai Energy Co Ltd and its parent company is Shenhua Group Corp Ltd, one of China's major mining firms.

Construction of the mine started in 2006. It is designed to produce 1.5 million tons of coal a year.

Last year, Inner Mongolia replaced northwest China's Shanxi province to become China's leading coal base with 637 million tons of output, and reported 33 deaths in 21 mine accidents, a fatality rate of 0.052 per million tons, one of the lowest among China's major coal bases.