Eleven workers stranded for two weeks inside a Chinese gold mine were brought to the surface safely on Sunday, an important achievement for an industry long plagued by disasters and high numbers of deaths.
The state broadcaster CCTV showed that the workers are transported one by one in baskets on Sunday afternoon, with their eyes protected to protect them after so many days in the dark.
Some brought their hands together in gratitude and many seemed almost too weak to stand. They were quickly covered in clothes at freezing temperatures and loaded into ambulances.
Hundreds of workers and rescue officials stood by and applauded as workers were brought from the mine to Qixia, a jurisdiction under Yantai in the eastern coastal province of Shandong.
cnsphoto via REUTERS
A worker is said to have died from a head injury from the explosion that deposited massive amounts of rubble in the tree on January 10, while the mine was still under construction.
The fate of 10 others who were underground at the time is unknown. Authorities detained mine administrators for delaying reporting the accident.
The cause of the accident is being investigated, but the explosion was large enough to release 70 tons of debris that blocked the tree, deactivating the elevators and trapping the workers underground.
Rescuers drilled parallel trees to send food and nutrients and eventually bring the survivors, 10 of whom were in a lower room and one in a separate area a little closer to the surface.
The official China Daily reported on its website that seven of the workers were able to go to the ambulances alone.
Such prolonged and costly rescue efforts are relatively new in China’s mining industry, which used to average 5,000 deaths a year. Increased surveillance has improved safety, although the demand for coal and precious metals continues to cause corners to be cut. A new crackdown has been ordered after two accidents in southwestern Chongqing Mountain killed 39 miners last year.