Underground 650m 2 weeks… 11 Chinese miners rescued, 10 do not know life or death

On the 24th, miners who were trapped 500 to 650m underground in a gold mine explosion in Chisha City, Yantai, Shandong Province, China, were rescued within two weeks on the 24th. Among the 22 people buried in the underground tunnel, 11 have previously confirmed life or death.

The first rescue took place at 11:13 am. In order to prevent sudden exposure to sunlight, the miner wearing a black eyepatch came out and put his head together and nodded. He was left alone at 629m underground and was immediately taken to the hospital for treatment. Then, 10 survivors who were at a point 520m underground from 1:32 to 3:18 pm were also rescued in turn.

One of them was injured and is being treated. The rest of the survivors also resorted to rescuers, but they were able to walk themselves to the ambulance.

At 2 pm on the 10th, an explosion occurred in a tunnel 246m below the Wu Chailong Gold Mine located in Yantai City, blocking the entrance to the mine, leaving 22 miners isolated. Rescue authorities carried out large-scale rescue operations with 630 personnel and 400 equipment, but the rescue was difficult as a large number of obstacles were accumulated in the passage from the ground to the tunnel.

On the 17th, the rescue operation burned down as the survivors signaled through a pipe that was sent down underground. They drilled small pipes to the tunnels to supply nutrients, and exchanged messages with survivors. However, the situation was not good, such as one person who was injured at the time of the accident on the 20th died, and groundwater near 1m was filled.

Afterwards, the rescue authorities changed drills over four days to make a hole in the tunnel, and the rescuers in turn rescued one survivor who had been trapped alone at a depth of 550m and 10 survivors who had gathered in a section 100m below that. Rescue teams descended to the tunnel using a pulley and climbed to the ground by 2-3 people in the rescue basket every 30 minutes. On that day, Dubingzen’s rescue team leader said, “There was a lot of difficulty in rescue before, but on the morning of the 24th, a huge obstacle fell to the bottom of the tunnel, so there was great progress in the rescue work.” I started to rescue.”

Rescue authorities will seek out the remaining 10 missing persons, whose lives and deaths have not been identified.

Meanwhile, the Chisha city authorities pointed out that “the report was made to the authorities 30 hours after the explosion occurred, and the rescue operation was largely ordered.” Chinese authorities are arresting and investigating mine managers who delayed reporting the accident by more than 24 hours.

Reporter Kim Hong-bum [email protected]