BEIJING – Eleven workers imprisoned for two weeks inside a Chinese gold mine were safely brought to the surface on Sunday, a historic achievement for an industry long hit by disasters and high death rates.
State broadcaster CCTV showed workers being dragged one by one in baskets on Sunday afternoon, with their eyes protected to protect them after so many days in the darkness.
Some joined hands in thanks and many seemed almost too weak to stand. They were quickly covered by coats in low temperatures and loaded in ambulances.
Hundreds of rescue workers and officers were on the alert and applauded when workers were brought in from the mine in Qixia, a jurisdiction under Yantai, in the eastern coastal province of Shandong.
A worker was reported to have died of a head injury after the explosion that deposited large amounts of rubble in the well on January 10, while the mine was still under construction.
The fate of 10 other people who were underground at the time is unknown. Authorities detained mine managers for delaying reporting of the accident.
The cause of the accident is under investigation, but the explosion was large enough to release 70 tons of rubble that blocked the well, disabling elevators and trapping workers underground.
Rescuers drilled parallel wells to send food and nutrients and eventually bring the survivors, ten of whom were in a lower chamber and one in a separate area slightly closer to the surface.
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The official China Daily newspaper said on its website that seven of the workers were able to walk alone to the ambulances.
These time-consuming and expensive rescue efforts are relatively new to China’s mining industry, which used to average 5,000 deaths a year. Increased supervision has improved security, although demand for coal and precious metals continues to encourage corner cutting.
A new operation was ordered after two accidents in the mountainous southwestern Chongqing region last year killed 39 miners.