Forty-five Chinese coal miners trapped by a cave-in were rescued today, ending a 36-hour ordeal. Eight other miners were killed in the incident.
After yesterday’s cave-in, at least 200 workers dug a small rescue tunnel to reach the trapped miners, the People’s Daily newspaper said.
Seven trapped miners were pulled out alive yesterday from the mine in the city of Samenxia in Henan province, in central China.
Today, state broadcaster CCTV showed rescuers with helmets and oxygen tanks carrying the workers out of the mine shaft to ambulances.
The miners lay on stretchers, wrapped with blankets with their eyes covered by towels to prevent them from being damaged by the sudden exposure to light after hours of being trapped.
The rescue was the biggest in the country since April 2010, when 115 miners were pulled out alive after being trapped for eight days in a mine in northern China.
Luo Lin, head of the State Administration for Work Safety, praised the rescue after the last miner was rushed away in an ambulance, but said more work needed to be done to promote safety.
“The alarm bell of work safety must keep ringing. Enterprises should pay attention to work safety when the coal demand is high. ... They should not allow any operation that violates (safety) rules or regulations,” he said.
Mr Luo said a magnitude-2.9 earthquake had occurred near the mine shortly before a “rock burst” was reported.
The phenomenon occurs when settling earth bears down on mine walls and causes a sudden release of stored energy. The exploding chunks of coal and rock, or the shock waves, can be lethal.
CCTV said the rescue work had been hindered by large amounts of coal dust thrown up by the explosion.
PA