“Gold mine blast” ; 10 miners lost their lives, search operations underway

China’s rescue operators searching for the miners confined underground for two weeks following a blast at a gold mine in the Shandong region has discovered 10 bodies, officials told on Monday. On Sunday, 11 miners who were trapped buried for two weeks were unleashed. One trapped miner is still absconding and search attempts for him are initiated.

Twenty-two miners were confined underground in the partly formulated gold mine in the city of Qixia, since the explosion hindered their opening on January 10. Eleven miners were saved on Sunday after being confined for two weeks. After taking back 11 miners, rescuers went down into the goldmine and found the bodies of 10 miners. Rescuers have recovered 10 bodies of miners confined underground due to the explosion in the gold mine, state-run Xinhua news agency informed, indicating officials in Jinan, capital of Shandong province.

All have missed indications of life, chief on-site rescue specialist Du Bingjian told. Estimating by the bodies, some of the miners died, and some perished from injuries from the blast, Du said. One trapped miner is still missing and quest attempts are undertaken. Before, clearance work had faced great challenges, but on Sunday morning, a large hindrance obstructing the well suddenly dropped to the bottom of the shaft, leaving rescue workers to take a big step ahead, after which the rescuers carried up 11 miners.

As the hindrances were removed, rescuers were permitted to move down into the goldmine to the Sixth Central Section, where it was considered the other miners were settled. The body of one miner was discovered in the sixth Central Section. Eight miners were located in the third and the fourth central sector, which was more adjacent to the area. The goldmine blast occurred on January 10, but the disaster was only reported to the local authorities 30 hours after. Top rescue teams and supplies were immediately asked to the city for all-out rescue attempts, which have been going on for 14 days.

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“We will not stop searching for the missing miner,” said Chen Fei, mayor of Yantai. He stated that the rescue work is remarkably challenging as the underground water is quite deep. According to Chen, the 11 rescued miners are obtaining proper medical treatment, and DNA tests are being administered to verify the names of the deceased. The investigation into the reason for the accident is yet in progress, Xinhua report said.