One of the 22 coal miners trapped for the past 11 days has died inside a gold mine in the town of Chisha in Shandong province in eastern China, the country’s authorities announced this morning (Thursday).
Attempts to rescue miners trapped in a gold mine, today // Photo: Reuters
The miner’s death comes as rescuers try to clear the rubble in the area and improve ventilation coming to the trapped, in order to rescue the other 21 miners. So far, the rescuers have been able to contact only 11 of those trapped in the mine, who are in one room on the spot, and deliver food, medicine and other supplies to them.
According to Chinese authorities, the miner who died in the head injury during the mine explosion, which occurred on January 10, went into a coma – and as mentioned, died of his wounds. Two other workers are in poor health, another miner trapped in a separate room and it is not yet known what happened to 10 other trapped people.
Since the explosion at the mine, the rescuers have managed to clear the rubble that has accumulated at the site and blocked the main entrance shaft. At the same time, they managed to drill to a depth of about 700 meters, and thus managed to contact the trapped and ventilate the place, and perhaps later even lead to the rescue of the trapped. At the same time, it was learned that the gold mine managers were arrested after reporting the explosion to local authorities more than 24 hours after it occurred.