BEIJING (AP) – Chinese rescuers have found the bodies of nine workers killed in explosions at a gold mine, which has increased the death toll to ten, officials said Monday.
Eleven others were rescued a day earlier after being trapped underground for two weeks in the Shandong province mine. One person is still missing.
The cause of the accident at the mine, which was under construction, is being investigated. The explosions on January 10 released 70 tons of debris blocking a shaft, eliminating elevators and trapping workers underground.
Rescuers drilled parallel shafts to dispatch food and nutrients and eventually educate the survivors Sunday.
Chen Yumin, director of the rescue group, told reporters that the nine workers who were recovered on Monday died more than 400 meters below the ground. He said there were two explosions of about one and a half hours, with the second explosion causing more damage.
Efforts to search for the remaining miner will continue until he is found, said Chen Fei, the mayor of the city of Yantai, where the mine is located.
“Until this worker is found, we will not give up,” he told a news conference.
Chen and other officials involved in the rescue effort paused for a moment and bowed their heads.
“Our hearts are deeply saddened. We express our deepest sympathy and express our deepest sympathy to the families of the victim, ”he said.
Authorities detained mine managers for delaying the crash.
Such long-term and costly rescue efforts are relatively new in the mining industry in China, which averaged 5,000 deaths per year.
Increased oversight has improved safety, although demand for coal and precious metals is still causing the cutting edge. A new crackdown has been ordered following two accidents in mountainous southwestern Chongqing last year, killing 39 miners.