It will take at least 15 days to go through a massive amount of debris and reach the miners who they have already been caught for 11 days after an explosion at a gold mine in eastern China, authorities said on Thursday.
The mine shaft is blocked at 1,000 feet below 70 tons of debris that extends down another 330 feet, the Yantai city government said in a statement on its social media account.
“Based on expert assessments, the extent of the blockade … is far beyond expectations,” the statement said.
A worker died of head injuries in the blast, state media reported earlier on Thursday. Of the remaining 21, rescuers made contact with 10, one is said to be alive in a nearby room, and the status of the other 10 is unknown.
Xinhua / Wang Kai / Getty
The deceased worker had been in a coma and two others are said to be in poor health. rescuers they delivered food, medicines and other goods for the group of 11 people while working to remove debris and improve ventilation.
State media reports said that exhaustion had set in among some workers since the January 10 explosion shattered the mine under construction in Qixia, a jurisdiction under Yantai in Shandong Province.
Rescuers tried to clear cages and other debris that blocked the main shaft while drilling other shafts for communication, ventilation and possibly to lift workers to the surface. The boredom reached depths of about 2,000 feet, reports say.
My managers were detained because they waited more than 24 hours before reporting the accident, the cause of which was not announced.
Increased surveillance has improved safety in China’s mining industry, which averaged 5,000 deaths a year. However, demand for coal and precious metals continues to cut corners, and two accidents in Chongqing last year killed 39 miners.