BEIJING – Chinese rescuers found the bodies of nine workers in a mine explosion, which increased the death toll to ten, officials said Monday.
Eleven others were rescued a day earlier after being trapped underground in the gold mine in Shandong Province for two weeks. One person is still missing.
The cause of the accident at the mine, which was under construction, is being investigated.
The January 10 explosion released 70 tons of debris that blocked a shaft, eliminated elevators and trapped workers underground.
Rescuers drilled parallel shafts to dispatch food and nutrients and eventually educate the survivors Sunday.
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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.