Coal miners rescued after 40 hours trapped underground
Published: October 12, 2006
Eight Chinese coal miners who were trapped when a tunnel collapsed were rescued early Thursday after 40 hours underground, a news report said, in a rare positive development for China’s fatality-plagued mining industry.
The miners were trapped Tuesday when the ceiling collapsed in the Xieqiao Coal Mine in Fuyang, a city in the eastern province of Anhui, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
They were weak but in good condition following their rescue, Xinhua said, citing Chen Daojun, chief surgeon at the Xieqiao Hospital.
One rescued miner said he ate nothing while he was trapped and drank water leaking from the tunnel ceiling, according to Xinhua.
“I didn’t feel tired but was extremely hungry,” the miner, Shen Jindong, was quoted as saying. “I was not so frightened in the darkness, but feel very scared when I think back now on the moment when the disaster approached and the ensuing long darkness.”
China’s coal mines are the world’s deadliest, with more than 5,000 fatalities a year in such disasters despite repeated government promises to improve safety.
The cause of the cave-in in Anhui wasn’t reported, but accidents often are blamed on lack of required safety equipment or indifference to safety rules.
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