20 Miners trapped in China pit

China-miners

Rescuers are working round the clock to search for 20 miners who have remained trapped in a colliery in southwest China’s Chongqing Municipality for nearly 24 hours following a gas explosion.

Chongqing’s Deputy Mayor, Mu Huaping made the statement at a press briefing held in the small hours of Tuesday in the city.

Mu said the 33 miners were stranded in a pit of Jinshangou Coal Mine in Yongchuan District after the explosion went off at 11:33 a.m. on Monday.

“As of midnight, rescuers had retrieved 13 dead bodies but the remaining 20 were still unaccounted for,’’ Mu noted.

The official corrected previous casualty reports provided by the local coal mine safety authorities on Monday, which said 15 miners were confirmed dead.

“We are still working all-out to search for the 20 missing miners and will exert our utmost as long as there is still a ray of hope,’’ he said.

Over 400 rescuers have been working overnight, taking turns to go down the shaft for the search and rescue operation.

They needed to dig through the underground passageways, some of which had been blocked by ruins from collapsed tunnels, carefully avoiding secondary disasters.

No fewer than 20 ambulances and dozens of medical workers are standing by for first-aid.

When the explosion went off, 60-year-old Tao Puzhang was working on his cropland about 500m from the mine.

“I heard a bang and felt the ground was shaking under my feet,’’ Tao said.

Liu Fuxiu, a winch operator with the mine, was working 40m from the entrance to the pit.

She was swept away by strong shockwaves following the explosion and was injured on the face and back.

“My injuries are nothing, I have a relative down the pit and I hope he will survive,’’ she said while answering questions from investigators.

Altogether 35 workers were in the pit when the accident happened, while two of them managed to escape unwounded.

Following the explosion, Chongqing authorities have intensified a safety overhaul and demanded all collieries with less than 90,000 tonnes of annual output be temporarily closed.

According to its license, the Jinshangou mine has a designed annual output of 60,000 tonnes.