Trapped miners face 15-day wait

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 350 metres below the surface by 70 tons of debris that extends down another 100 metres, the Yantai city government stated on social media.

“Based on expert evaluations, the extent of the blockage... is well out of expectation,” the city’s statement said.

One worker has died from head injuries in the explosion, after being in a coma, 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.

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 near the City of Yantai, in Shandong province.

Mine managers have been detained for waiting more than 24 hours before reporting the accident, the cause of which has not been announced.