|
The bodies of 11 miners who had been trapped beneath a flooded coalmine shaft in Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Provinces, were found and recovered early Friday.
The search is continuing for 10 other miners who are still trapped beneath the shaft.
Sourcefrom the Henan provincial bureau for the supervision of coal mine security said the flooding occurred at the Dongfeng CoalMine, Baiping Township, late on Sunday, and only a half of the 42 miners who were working beneath the shaft at the time escaped.
A preliminary investigation showed the accident might have been caused by flooding from a neighboring coal mine when the separating wall collapsed. About 2,000 cubic meters of water is estimated to have flooded into the mine.
Dongfeng Coal Mine is a privately-owned mine which has been operating for more than 10 years. The rescue leader said the mine owner failed to report the accident to the supervisory department, and the mine's legal representative, the foreman of the miners, and other administrative personnel fled after failing to rescue the trapped miners.
Dengfeng municipal government organized a rescue team immediately after learning of the accident, mobilizing 500 rescue workers and miners from nearby coalmines.
(Xinhua News Agency July 18, 2003)
|
