An expert said some of the 15 trapped miners in a coal mine in Hancheng, Shaanxi Province, still have a chance to survive the ordeal as long as they can get access to fresh air.

The expert with the Hancheng Coal Mine Affairs Bureau who chose to remain anonymous, said yesterday that if any of the 15 trapped miners are in a ventilated space underground, they can still survive as long as rescue efforts are successful in three or four days' time.

"People can live for seven days by only taking water without any food, and we rescued some miners who had been trapped for 14 days in a deep mine before," the expert said.

On the evening of September 11, 15 miners were trapped deep underground as water started leaking into a coal mine in eastern Shaanxi's Hancheng. Rescue efforts began immediately for the trapped miners not long thereafter, according to bureau sources.

Over the past four days, the major efforts by rescue crews have involved drawing water from the mine, and some 22,000 cubic metres of water had been pumped out as of Monday, the bureau said.

"At present, seven water-pumps are working day and night to drain out water, which is conservatively estimated to be 100,000 cubic metres in the mine," the bureau official said.

With the speed of draining out water roughly 1,000 cubic metres per hour, it will take four more days to drain out all the water. Now some 1,000 rescue workers are working shifts day and night to drain the mine, the bureau added.

Sangshuping Coal Mine of the Hancheng Coal Mine Affairs Bureau is a 25-year-old State-owned mine, which had never suffered from such a calamity since being established in 1978, the bureau said.

The bureau has ordered all of its mines to stop production and make safety inspections from September 12 to 14, with production to be restarted after approval by the bureau and provincial authorities.

The mine flood was initially believed to be caused by work on small private coal mines nearby, which damaged accumulated underground water tunnels, the expert said.

He said while more than 20,000 cubic meters of water had been drained so far, leaking water was still flowing into his mine, which has made rescue work more difficult.

On Saturday, 15 small coal mines were closed by local authorities, as rescue efforts and investigation of the accident are still ongoing on.

(China Daily September 16, 2003)