BEIJING – Eleven workers trapped in a Chinese gold mine for two weeks were safely brought to the surface on Sunday, a characteristic achievement for an industry that has long been plagued by disasters and high death tolls.
The state broadcaster CCTV showed how workers are taken in baskets one by one on Sunday afternoon, with their eyes protected to protect them after so many days in the dark.
Some brought their hands together in gratitude and many seemed almost too weak to stand. They were quickly covered under coats and loaded into ambulances.
Hundreds of rescue workers and officials stood and cheered as the workers were educated from the mine in Qixia, a jurisdiction under Yantai in eastern Shandong province.
One worker was reportedly killed in a head injury after the blast that left massive amounts of debris in the ash on January 10 while the mine was still under construction.
The fate of ten others who were underground at the time is unknown. Authorities detained mine managers for delaying the crash.
The cause of the crash is being investigated, but the explosion was large enough to release 70 tons of debris that blocked the ash, leaving elevators and workers trapped underground.
Rescuers drilled parallel shafts to dispatch food and nutrients and eventually educate the survivors, ten of whom were in a lower room and one in a separate area slightly closer to the surface.
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The official China Daily newspaper reported on its website that seven of the workers were able to walk to ambulances alone.
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.