Rescuers pull everyone alive from flooded coal mine in southwest China

[News_Editor]

Rescuers pull everyone alive from flooded coal mine in southwest China

2010-11-22 12:44:15 GMT+7 (ICT)

CHENGDU, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- All twenty-nine people who were trapped at a southwest China coal mine have been rescued safely, according to state-run media on Monday.

The incident began at around 11 a.m. local time on Sunday when a pit of the Batian coal mine in Sichuan province was flooded. A total of 35 miners were working underground when it happened, of which 13 were able to escape without injuries.

Soon after the accident, seven rescuers descended into the pit in an attempt to rescue the 22 miners who had been left behind. They also became trapped, however.

By early Monday afternoon, all 29 people who were trapped inside the mine were safely brought to the surface, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency. Journalists at the scene said those rescued were greeted by local residents, family members, and rescue workers.

Several medical emergency tents had been erected near the mine to prepare for any casualties, but no one appeared to be injured.

Safety conditions at mines in China have significantly improved in recent years, but they remain among the world's most dangerous with around 2,600 fatalities in 2009 alone.

On October 27, twelve people were killed and another was injured after a flooding accident at a coal mine in the southwestern Chinese province of Guinzhou.

And on October 16, a gas leak at a Pingyu Coal & Electric Co. Ltd.-owned coal mine in Yuzhou City of central China's Henan Province killed 37 miners. It took several days to recover all bodies.

One of the worst mining accidents in China in recent years happened in November 2009, when 104 miners were killed after several explosions at a coal mine in Heilongjiang province.

-- © BNO News All rights reserved 2010-11-22