Sixty-nine miners were trapped after a coal mine flooded in
central China's Henan Province, rescue headquarters said
Sunday night.
The flooding occurred at around 8:40 a.m. Sunday at the Zhijian
coal mine in Shanxian county, about 200 kilometers west of
Zhengzhou, capital of Henan, when 102 miners were working
underground, the rescue headquarters said.?
Thirty-three managed to escape but 69 others were trapped, it
said after checking the numbers. The mine reported earlier that 70
miners were trapped because of miscalculation.
"The rescue operation is going on in an orderly way and the most
import task is to try every effort to pump water for the time
being," said an official with the headquarters.
Rescuers are also ordered to use the ground ventilation system
to supply wind to the flooded mine and drill holes from the ground
to the shaft where miners are trapped to ensure enough oxygen.
Floodwater triggered by rainstorms Saturday night swamped the
mine through an aluminium mine pit and an old shaft of the mine,
the headquarters said. The floodwater had been initially said to
have come from the bed of a nearby river.
The mine, built in 1958, is a state-owned one operated by
Zhijian Mining Co., Ltd. It has a designed annual production
capacity of 210,000 tons, but actually produces 300,000 tons every
year.
Li Yizhong, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, has
arrived at the mine to direct rescue operation.
(Xinhua News Agency July 30, 2007)
