Miners rescued

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2006-11-02 10:23

A medical worker tends a miner after being trapped underground for 13 hours in a coal mine in Lanzhou, West China's Gansu Province November 1, 2006. A landslide smashed the pit mouth of the Deshun coal mine, trapping 16 miners underground. All the miners were rescued. [Xinhua]

All the 16 coal miners, who were trapped in a coal mine landslide for more than 13 hours in northwestern Gansu Province, were rescued late Wednesday night.

The miners fought to escape from the shaft while rescuers outside struggled to reopen the pit, Yan Chenglu, deputy secretary-general of the Lanzhou city government, said at the rescue site.

The miners dug an eight-meter-long tunnel with a diameter of about one meter with spades, bars and other tools they found in the mine shaft, said Yan.

All the miners had burrowed out of the pit by 23:46 on Wednesday and were reported to be in good physical condition. They were sent to hospital for check-ups early on Thursday morning.

They were in a stable condition, said Dong Zhongqi, a doctor at the Honggu District hospital in Lanzhou.

"Some of them suffered from lack of oxygen and anxiety after being trapped underground for more than 13 hours and they need a good rest," said Dong.

Wang, one of the survivors, told Xinhua, "We guessed it was a landslide and not a gas blast or flood because there was no water and no smell of gas in the shaft."

Wang and 15 other colleagues were conducting routine maintenance of the mine well when the landslide occurred. He was the last miner to emerge from the blocked mine.

"We were frightened at the beginning, but we soon calmed down because we knew we were not far from ground level," said Wang. "I told myself we could definitely get out safely."

"Later, we heard the sound of excavators digging and that boosted our morale enormously," he said.

The miners spent more than 13 hours digging their "tunnel of life".

"It's so wonderful to be able to see our families and colleagues again," said Wang.

An estimated 1.4 million cubic meters of mud blocked the entrances to the main pit in Deshun Coal Mine Fields at around 10 a.m. Wednesday, trapping all the 16 miners underground, and burying a number of houses.

The Deshun Coal Mine, which is more than 160 km from the downtown district of Lanzhou, the provincial capital, has an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons.

Production at the mine, which has an official licence, has been suspended due to a routine safety examination.

Also in Gansu, 29 miners were killed and 19 more were injured in a coal mine gas explosion on Tuesday in Baiyin City, about 100 km northwest of Lanzhou.

The injured miners are still critical, according to the local hospital.

The provincial government issued an urgent circular on coal mine work safety on Wednesday to all localities.

All local governments in Gansu were required to carry out an immediate blanket inspection over all coal producing entities under their jurisdiction.

"Coal mines found with problems including serious hidden safety dangers and production acts in violation with relevant rules should be shut down for adjustment measures," said the circular.