Rescue crews rushed to rescue up to 22 miners trapped underground for nine days on Tuesday after an explosion at a gold mine in eastern Shandong province in China, state media reported.
Porridge and insulation blankets were dispatched after life-saving food, water and medicine were delivered to the trapped men for the first time on Monday as rescue crews tried to cut metal cages used to transport miners and ore blocking the ash.
Rescuers realized there were survivors underground after they felt people pulling on iron ropes dropped in the mine, Xinhua official news agency reported Sunday.
A letter sent by the miners on a line deep in the mine on Monday morning states that at least 12 of them are still alive, but there is no air circulation. They also warned about a large amount of groundwater where they were trapped.
“Do not stop the rescue,” reads the handwritten note, according to the Beijing News newspaper. “We have hope.”
The miners said they did not know what happened to the rest of their colleagues. A total of 22 workers were trapped in the mine after the January 10 explosion.
Rescuers were also able to hold two telephone conversations with the miners after a telephone wire was set up on Monday, Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported.
The cause of the crash was not given, but the mine was under construction at the time of the explosion, reports The Associated Press.
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According to Shandong Provincial Government, two local senior party officials were fired after the accident last week.
Increased surveillance has improved safety in China’s mining industry, which has averaged 5,000 deaths a year. Yet the demand for coal and precious metals is still cutting and causing accidents.
In December, 23 people died after being trapped in a mine in the southwestern city of Chongqing in China.
Dawn Liu reported from Beijing, Yuliya Talmazan from London.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
