A dozen Chinese gold miners trapped thousands of meters underground in less than a week have sent an urgent note saying four are injured and the others are in serious condition, according to reports.
“We urgently need drugs, painkillers, medical tape, external anti-inflammatory drugs and three people have high blood pressure,” the note reads, reports Agence France-Presse.
It was not known if 10 other miners were still alive, according to Xinhua Nerws.
Twenty-two workers were trapped about 2,000 meters below the surface after an explosion eight days ago near Qixia City in eastern Shandong Province.
After several days without signs of life, rescuers heard knocks on Sunday afternoon while drilling in the mine shaft.
“We want the rescuers not to stop so that we can still have hope. Thank you “, read the crumpled note, stained with water, written in pencil.
The writer asked rescuers to send drugs from his car and warned that there is a large amount of water in which the miners are trapped.
Rescuers were later able to talk to some of the miners after they dropped a phone line, officials said Monday at a news conference.
The hopes of a miraculous rescue triggered an outpouring of sympathy and encouragement on social media.
The hashtag “Qixia Gold Mine Incident” has been viewed 130 million times on the popular social networking site Weibo.
“I saw the note while watching the morning news and burst into tears,” wrote a Weibo user. “I hope they will save the trapped workers as soon as possible.”
The managers of the operation were detained after failing to report the accident for more than a day.
The mine had been under construction at the time of the explosion, which took place on January 10.
With Post threads