Rescue workers are racing against time to save the miners still trapped in a flooded coal mine in Shanxi Province. Crews are focused on draining water, maintaining ventilation and preventing secondary disasters.
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Rescuers carry pipes at the site of a flooding accident of Wangjialing Coal Mine, sitting astride Xiangning County of Linfen City and Hejin City of Yuncheng City, in north China's Shanxi Province, on March 29, 2010. (Xinhua/Gao Xueyu) |
At 3 o'clock on Monday morning, water pumps, pipes and communication equipment are being transported to the site. Rescue workers have been working frantically to save the trapped since they arrived.
For the 108 survivors, the Sunday nightmare still haunts them.
Gas tester Li Minfu said, "I went down there just minutes before the accident. When the water broke loose, I heard a strange noise. Then the visibility started to drop. All of a sudden I found flood water was rushing towards me, engulfing everything on its path. "
Coal mining is believed to be the most dangerous job in China. Earlier this month a similar accident in northern China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region killed 32 workers.