Makkah emir reassures excellent services for pilgrims Deputy emir meets Hajj minister in Arafat    Security forces utilize AI to manage Hajj pilgrimage    Zelensky seeks show of support at giant Ukraine peace summit    G7 leaders accuse China of 'enabling' Russia war on Ukraine in stark warning    Full-blown Israel-Hezbollah war appears to be more likely, analysts say    Cyril Ramaphosa re-elected South African president    A glimpse into the Jamarat: Ensuring a safe and sacred ritual for pilgrims    Hajj pilgrims advised on safe practices for stoning    Saudi-based Shine Event Staffing wins Best Staffing Agency at the Middle East Event Awards 2024    IMF forecast: Saudi unemployment rate hits historic lows; non-oil growth to reach 3.5% in 2024    Tesla investors back $56bn Musk pay deal    Japanese band pulls music video with ape-like natives    Aramco and NextDecade set preliminary terms for long-term LNG agreement    BTS' Jin to hug 1,000 fans as he returns from army    The hit Thai film moving TikTokers to tears    Iconic French singer Françoise Hardy dies aged 80    Mahd Sports Academy appoints Mike Puig as Deputy CEO for Sports    Saudi national football team wins 3-0 against Pakistan in World Cup qualifiers    Embracing change: A journey towards inner peace    Cristiano Ronaldo hails 2023-24 RSL season as 'one of the best' of his career    Germany's head coach blasts public broadcaster for 'racist' survey    JK Rowling in 'arrest me' challenge over hate crime law    Trump's Bible endorsement raises concern in Christian religious circles    Hollywood icon Will Smith shares his profound admiration for Holy Qur'an    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Five bodies found after China mine rescue
Published in The Saudi Gazette on 07 - 04 - 2010

Chinese rescuers Tuesday pulled five bodies from a flooded coal mine and searched for 33 missing men a day after the “miracle” rescue of over 100 fellow miners who endured a week underground.
The survivors ate coal, bark and paper to get through their ordeal and drank the filthy water that surrounded them. Some built rafts in a failed bid to escape, or constructed rough platforms to try and keep above the flooding, state media said.
Officials said 153 miners were trapped in the unfinished Wangjialing mine in Xiangning, in the northern province of Shanxi, when water gushed in more than a week ago.
Rescuers pulled out 115 Sunday and Monday, with media and officials hailing a “miracle” that came on a national holiday to honor the dead.
The high number of survivors was rare good news for China's perilous mining industry, the deadliest in the world with thousands killed every year in floods, explosions, collapses and other accidents. Shanxi is the heartland of the coal industry.
A special medical train ferried the worst injured to well-equipped hospitals in the provincial capital Tuesday, while others were recovering fast.
“I want to have meat. Sausage would be better,” the official Xinhua agency quoted one survivor saying after he was handed a bowl of egg and tomato noodles. – Reuters
The men were initially too weak to eat anything but gruel and glucose said Liu Qiang, deputy director of the medical team at rescue headquarters.
Rescuers braved the floodwaters and fluctuating mine gas once officials deemed a week of frantic pumping had lowered water levels enough to make a rescue possible. Tapping sounds on a pipe Friday had raised hopes some miners were still alive.
“We reached 200 metres underground by raft only to find that there was not enough space for the raft to continue as the water level was too high. So we jumped into the water, swam towards the trapped miners and pulled them out,” said rescuer Wang Kai.
Survivors were brought out from a platform, where rescuers had drilled a vertical hole last week. The hole ensured oxygen in the water-flooded pit while rescuers sent down bags of glucose.
Most of the survivors were stable but suffering from malnutrition, dehydration and skin infections, and 26 were in a “relatively serious” condition, Xinhua said.
President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao were “deeply worried” about the miners, the Xinhua report said. – Reuters
“Rescuers at the front must continue to foster the spirit of not being scared of exhaustion and to keep fighting...to save the remaining miners,” it quoted them as saying.
Workers are tempted into hazardous jobs in China's mines by wages that can be much higher than for many other jobs open to blue-collar workers and rural migrants.
Strong demand for energy and lax standards have made China's mines often deadly places to work, despite a drive to clamp down on small, unsafe operations where most accidents occur.
China says the shutdown of many of the most dangerous private operations has helped cut accidents. The number of people killed in coal mines dropped to 2,631 in 2009, an average of seven a day, from 3,215 in 2008, according to official statistics.
But the deadliest accidents are not limited to private firms. The Wangjialing mine was a project belonging to a joint venture between China National Coal Group and Shanxi Coking Coal Group, two of China's larger state-owned firms.
“We demand the company get prepared for an investigation ... and provide real technical data and basic information for it,” said Liu Dezheng, a Shanxi provincial mining official.


Clic here to read the story from its source.