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Coal mine rescue work continues
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Almost 1,000 rescuers are racing against time to reach 153 people still trapped in the underground flooded coal mine, in north China's Shanxi Province. Meng Lingqi updates us on the progress of their rescue efforts.
The water level is dropping in the flooded coal mine as rescue efforts continue. By 6 p.m. Tuesday, the water level in the shaft had fallen 15 centimeters, after a total of 15 thousand cubic meters of water had been pumped out of the pit. But there is still no communication with the trapped workers.
When underground water gushed in Sunday afternoon, 261 workers were in the pit of the Wangjialing Coal Mine, which was under construction.
108 were lifted out of harm's way, 153 others were trapped in the shaft.
Rescuers say they are using 8 pumps to move out up to 2000 cubic meters of water per hour. Their efforts are continuing around the clock.
Local officials say the coal mine has a high concentration of gas. Rescuers have to face the danger of toxins, while fighting the water. So guarding against secondary disasters becomes a must.
Rescuers started drilling a hole to open a 150-meter drainage channel in the shaft to divert water from the flooded tunnel to another unaffected tunnel.
Local authorities dispatched more than 40 medical workers and 20 ambulances to the shaft's entrance.
President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao ordered local authorities to spare no effort in the rescue operation. Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang is at the site to oversee the operation.
Most of the trapped miners were migrant workers from Shanxi, Hebei, Hunan and Guizhou provinces.
The mine covers about 180 square kilometers. The mining zone was estimated to have more than 2.3 billion tons of coal reserves.
It is expected to produce 6 million tons of coal annually once in operation.
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