Four miners trapped underground for 36 days in a collapsed Chinese gypsum mine were pulled out late on Friday, a “miracle” rescue in a country with a poor track record on industrial accidents.
The final operation to save the men trapped more than 200m underground took two hours as they were hauled up to the surface one by one in a rescue “capsule,” according to state broadcaster China Central Television (CCTV).
The four were among 29 trapped when the mine collapsed on Dec. 25 last year. However, the rescue was marred as a local government official said there had been no contact with 13 other missing miners.
Photo: Reuters
The incident drew comparisons to a 2010 mining accident in Chile, in which 33 miners were trapped for 69 days before their rescue.
Dramatic footage released by CCTV showed rescue crews applauding as the men were brought above ground in eastern Shandong Province.
Of the 29 that were trapped, one has been found dead and 11 were rescued the day after the accident. However, there has been no contact with the remaining 13.
“We used life detection equipment to search for them. Unfortunately, we haven’t heard from those 13 missing miners,” Zhang Shuping (張術平), mayor of Linyi, which governs the area, was quoted by CCTV as saying.
The four rescued men were shown being wrapped in military blankets, blindfolded to protect their eyes and put into ambulances. They were named by state media as Zhao Zhicheng (趙治誠), aged 50, Li Qiusheng (李秋生), 39, Guan Qingji (管慶吉), 58, and Hua Mingxi (華明喜), 36.
The four had suffered no major injuries and would soon be able to return home, China’s official Xinhua news agency quoted Cao Qingde (曹慶德), deputy head of the local hospital where they were being treated, as saying.
Rescuers first detected signs of life on Dec. 30. The rescue team managed to contact the miners and sent down food, clothes and lamps through a tunnel, the broadcaster reported.
However, complicated geological conditions made the rescue difficult, with crews having to account for the structural instability of the tunnel and falling rocks.
Government officials said it marked China’s first rescue of its kind, accomplished by drilling through rock with a large drill.
“In the rescue history of the People’s Republic of China, this has turned a new page,” Chinese State Administration of Work Safety official Gao Guangwei (高廣偉) told CCTV.
The incident was the latest deadly accident in a country where safety rules are often flouted to cut costs.
Despite the jubilation over the rescue, some netizens called for accountability over the accident.
“Feel so proud of this? Shouldn’t it be the time to hold someone accountable?” one netizen wrote.
The owner of the mine committed suicide by drowning himself at the scene soon after the collapse, Xinhua reported previously.
The cause of the collapse is under investigation, but industrial safety regulations are often evaded in China and corruption enables bosses to pursue profits at the cost of worker safety.
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