December 03, 2008

Efforts underway to rescue 69 trapped coal miners in China

China State Administration of Work Safety said that 69 miners trapped in a flooded coalmine in Central China's Henan Province are safe. China State Administration of Work Safety said that "The trapped miners have been in telephone contact with people above ground and are in a safe place and in a stable emotional state. However, continuous heavy rains have hampered rescue efforts with none of the miners being freed at press time recently.

Xinhua cited a member of the rescue team as saying that "The rescue operation is progressing in an orderly way and the first task is to try to pump out the water. About 300 soldiers have stemmed the flow of water from a disused pit nearby.”

A rescue worker said about 4,000 cubic meter of water is estimated to have flooded some 600 meter of tunnels in the pit. The huge amount of silt in the tunnels has slowed the pumping work. Rescuers have been told to use the ground ventilation system to supply air and drill holes from the ground to the place where the miners are trapped to ensure they get enough oxygen.

Rescuers have been told to use the ground ventilation system to supply air and drill holes from the ground to the place where the miners are trapped to ensure they get enough oxygen. Experts have also been discussing the possibility of sending water and food via ventilation pipes.

Flooding occurred at about 8:40 AM on Sunday at the Zhijian Coal mine in Shanxian County about 200 kilometers west of Zhengzhou the provincial capital. Heavy rain that started on Saturday night flooded the Zhijian mine and out of the 102 miners working underground 33 managed to escape. The State owned mine was built in 1958. It is designed to produce 210,000 tonnes a year but its actual annual output is 300,000 tonnes.