Efforts for Rescuing Trapped Miners Maybe Fruitless

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, November 22, 2001

Efforts for Rescuing Trapped Miners Maybe Fruitless

Continuous explosions have made hope slim for 14 miners trapped since Saturday morning in a coal mine in Datong city of north China's Shanxi Province, rescuers said.

Continuous explosions have made hope slim for 14 miners trapped since Saturday morning in a coal mine in Datong city of north China's Shanxi Province, rescuers said.

Since early Tuesday morning, more than 20 explosions have been recorded in the Daquanwan coal mine at Wanjiajun Village in the southern suburbs of Datong, according to Hu Douping, a local coal industry official.

Rescue Work Hard to Be Carried out

Though fans are still working in a bid to expel poisonous gas, rescuers are still prevented from going underground.

The situation has actually stalled all rescue efforts, Hu said.

In fact, Hu said, there are as many as 13 coal pits in an area of less than one square kilometer around the village, so that they are all linked with each other, making it almost impossible to decide the exact sites of the explosions.

Although nine teams of rescuers have been mobilized by the city authorities, so far they have had to wait above ground.

Rescuing Trapped Miners Likely to Be Fruitless

"The temperature down the pit is as high as 50 degrees Celsius, and the content of poisonous gas is high. There is water for the trapped miners, but no food. The hope for their survival is nearly zero," Hu said.

Twenty-two miners were underground in the stricken pit when the first explosion occurred Saturday. Eight of them were lucky enough to escape.

Deadly Mines Forced to Close

Swift action is being taken by the central government to close life-threatening small coal mines.

The move comes due to the mines' worsening safety equipment and inferior mining techniques.

Aside from the explosion in Datong last Saturday, accidents occurred in Xiangyu Mine in the city of Jincheng - claiming the lives of 14 workers - last Sunday, 33 miners were killed at the Podi Mine in Jiaocheng county on Thursday and the death toll on Wednesday at Qingyu Mine in Yuxian County hit 11.

Trapped Miners ``Still Alive"