Mine owner drowns amid rescue effort

The owner of a gypsum mine that collapsed on Friday in Shandong province drowned early on Sunday morning in an apparent suicide while assisting rescue teams attempting to extract the 17 miners still trapped underground, according to local authorities.

Zhang Shuping, mayor of Linyi, said that Ma Congbo, chairman of Yurong Commerce and Trade Co jumped into a mine shaft that had partly filled with water as he was assisting in the rescue at around 2:30 am.

He died in the water, Zhang said, adding that an investigation on the cause of the collapse is underway.