Society
New cave-ins disrupt rescue from collapsed tunnel in S China
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-07-14 16:49
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BINYANG - Two new cave-ins in a collapsed railway tunnel in southwest China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region have forced rescuers to suspend their search for 10 trapped workers.
Rescuers said they would start trying to detect signs of life as soon as equipment arrived after the cave-ins occurred Wednesday in a section of the tunnel in Binyang County, in the regional capital of Nanning.
The rescue headquarters has ordered all the rescuers and machines to evacuate and to resume work when conditions were assessed to be safe.
At 7:27 am Wednesday, the trapped workers reported another cave-in to rescuers by phone, but the signal was quickly lost. Rescuers later found the top of the tunnel was cracking and sinking.
Three hours later, the tunnel collapsed again, leaving a cave-in 10 meters long and 5 meters deep.
After the tunnel first collapsed around 4 pm Sunday, the workers were stranded in a space about 8 meters long, said a spokesman with the headquarters.
On Tuesday, all the trapped workers were reported to be in good condition and they had been communicating with rescuers through paper notes passed through the ventilation holes.
Rescuers have dug five ventilation holes and two rescue passages into the 40 to 50-meter-long collapsed section of the 800-meter tunnel. They have also been able to pass water, milk, flashlights, paper and pens to the trapped workers, said the spokesman.
The tunnel was being built by the No. 18 Bureau of the China Railway Group Ltd..
The line will connect Nanning and Litang, an industrial town in Guangxi.