BEIJING (AP) – Eleven workers caught in an explosion at a gold mine in China for two weeks were brought to safety on Sunday.
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.
A worker is said to have died from a head injury from the explosion that deposited massive amounts of rubble in the January 10 tree 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.
China Daily official said on its website that seven of the workers were able to go to the ambulances alone.
The CCTV state broadcaster showed numerous ambulances parked next to technical vehicles at the Qixia mine, a jurisdiction under Yantai in Shandong Province.
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.