Trapped miners will have to wait at least 15 more days for rescue
It will take at least 15 more days to get through a massive amount of debris and reach miners already trapped for 11 days since an explosion in a gold mine in eastern China, authorities said.
The mine shaft is blocked 1,000ft below the surface by 70 tons of debris that extends down another 330ft, the Yantai city government said in a statement on its social media account.
“Based on expert evaluations, the extent of the blockage ... is well out of expectation,” the statement said.
One worker has died from head injuries in the explosion, state media said earlier.
Of the remaining 21, rescuers have established contact with ten, one is reportedly alive in a nearby chamber, and the status of the other ten is unknown.
The deceased worker had been in a coma. Two others are said to be in poor health.
Rescuers have delivered food, medicine and other supplies to the group of 11 as they work to remove debris and improve ventilation.
The state media reports said exhaustion has set in among some of the workers since the January 10 explosion ripped through the mine that was under construction in Qixia, a jurisdiction under Yantai in Shandong province. The cause of the explosion at the mine, which is stillunder construction, is not known.
The trapped miners have said they are grateful for nutritional liquids and medicine delivered via a long thin communication tunnel, but would really like some pork sausages.
The miners have been able to communicate via a new telephone line.
Rescuers had initially lowered rations on a cable, and received back a note saying “Don't stop trying to reach us”.
Rescuers were attempting to clear cages and other debris blocking the main shaft while drilling other shafts for communication, ventilation and possibly to lift workers to the surface.
Signs of life from the group of 11 were detected a week after the blast, when rescuers felt a pull on a rope they had lowered from the surface.
The group of ten miners reported that they had been able to communicate with a colleague trapped 150 feet below them, but that the contact had since been lost.
Rescuers have grown increasingly concerned about underground water levels, saying they were considering using submersible pumps to try to clear some of it away.
The crews had spent days after the accident tapping and waiting for signs of survivors, until finally they felt a pull on ropes that had been lowered into the mine.
Boring has reached depths of about 2,000ft, the reports said.
Chenfei, the deputy secretary of Yantai city, said phone conversations had established that the miners were "very weak" and that shafts were being opened up with their location.
Mine managers have been detained for waiting more than 24 hours before reporting the accident.
Increased supervision has improved safety in China's mining industry, which used to average 5,000 deaths per year.
Yet demand for coal and precious metals continues to prompt corner-cutting, and two accidents in Chongqing last year killed 39 miners.