Trapped mine worker goes into coma in China's Shandong

JINAN -- One trapped worker is in a coma after sustaining severe head injury in a gold mine blast in East China's Shandong province, local authorities said Tuesday.

The physical conditions of eight trapped miners have improved after they received nutritious supplies, while two experienced mild discomfort, said the rescue and medical team after a phone conversation with them around 6 pm Tuesday.

The fourth batch of the nutrient solution was delivered to the miners Tuesday morning, in addition to millet congee, thermometers and blankets. Counselors have been in place to boost the miners' confidence, said Song Xicheng, a member of the rescue and medical team at the site.

Twenty-two miners have been trapped underground following a mine blast at 2 pm on Jan 10 in Qixia under Yantai city.

Eleven of the miners were found Sunday through a drilled channel. They had a phone conversation with rescuers on Monday after a wired telephone was installed underground through the channel.

The conversation revealed that 11 miners were stuck in one section of the gold mine and one person in another, while the whereabouts of the other ten workers are still unknown.