Society
No Chinese mine survivor in critical condition
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-04-07 19:47
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TAIYUAN - None of the 115 Chinese mine survivors trapped underground for more than a week were in critical condition, after they were miraculously rescued on Monday, according to a doctor treating the miners in Taiyuan.
"None of the survivors were in intensive care, nor relying on breathing machines on Wednesday," said Liu Hong, head of intensive care in the No. 1 Hospital affiliated to the Shanxi Medical University in the provincial capital of Taiyuan.
The large Shanxi hospital had taken the 20 worst suffering survivors.
So far only seven of the 20 patients could get out of bed, she said.
The 115 survivors, after being trapped for more than a week in the flooded Wangjialing Coal Mine, were initially treated in five local hospitals in Hejin City, where the mine is located.
Sixty of them were then transferred to three big hospitals in Taiyuan for better treatment on Tuesday.
The oldest survivor, a 56-year-old miner, was deemed the most serious patient, Liu said.
"He had a high fever when he was lifted out of the pit. Skin on one of his legs was also seriously infected," said the doctor, who was involved in the mine rescue from the day the accident occurred on March 28.
The old miner told the medical staff that his leg was hurt when he tried to escape the flooding. The wound then became infected while he was trapped in the water.
Liu said the man's body temperature had dropped to 37 degrees Celsius and was generally recovering well.
