Buried deep underground, both survived by drinking dirty water

HESHAN, Guangxi - Two miners were rescued on Sunday after more than a week trapped in a collapsed shaft hundreds of meters underground.

Liu Jiagan, 41, and Qin Hongdang, 35, were found alive on Sunday morning at a South China mine in Heshan, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, after a massive cave-in buried them following heavy rain on July 2.

Twelve miners are still trapped, according to rescue headquarters.

Rescuers recovered the bodies of four miners close to where Liu and Qin were discovered, bringing the confirmed death toll from the accident to eight.

The two survivors were given emergency first aid and hospitalized on Sunday morning after rescuers reached them by digging and crawling through sludge. Both were extremely weak following their eight-day ordeal more than 300 meters underground.

"The lights went out suddenly and I heard a huge crashing sound," Qin said at Heshan People's Hospital.

Qin and Liu, his cousin, were pressed to the ground after the shaft collapse, Liu said.

They survived by drinking water dripping into the shaft, Liu said.

"The water was dirty and gave me cramps," Liu said.

"But I knew people were trying to rescue us when I heard voices and the sound of ventilators."

Both men were in stable condition, according to the head of the medical team treating them.

Their rescue was similar to one in April 2010 when 115 miners, out of 153, were saved at a flooded mine in Shanxi province after being trapped for nearly eight days.

The rescue operation continued on Sunday night as teams dug deeper into another section of the shaft, where three miners may be located.

The miners were trapped 390 meters underground, Ye Fangyong, deputy commander at rescue headquarters, said. Their chances of survival depended on the availability of air.

The mine owner, Heshan Coal Mining Co, offered rescuers a reward of two million yuan ($309,000) last week for each miner they saved.

The State Administration of Work Safety said in a statement on Thursday that the company had not done enough to prevent flooding.

It also said that the mine operator had failed to address safety concerns.

Three rescuers died

In a separate rescue operation at a mine that caught fire in Shandong province, three rescuers died on Sunday, the local rescue headquarters said.

The rescuers, Liu Guangyao, Man Chongli and Chen Jun, died in the scorching shaft when they were on their way back to the ground after they collapsed and lost consciousness. Rescue work is still under way.

A total of 28 miners were tapped at the mine after fire broke out on Wednesday.

Ju Chuanjiang contributed to this story

China Daily

(China Daily 07/11/2011 page5)