Refuge system could save lives

SHUOZHOU, Shanxi - It looks like a waiting room, but the spacious area built into the rocks actually provides emergency shelter 323 meters underground at a coal mine.

Bright and cool inside, the mine refuge cave is designed to separate miners from the humid mine shafts with an orange iron door, a refuge which could save lives in the wake of a mine disaster.

China's mine safety officials believe that this refuge cave will lead to the introduction of an emergency refuge system at coal mines in China.