Happy ending: 7 missing, 7 found
(China Daily)
Updated: 2006-02-22 05:47

FUXIN, Liaoning: They were weak from hunger and thirst after two and a half days.

But they were glad to be alive.

Seven coal miners were digging a new tunnel at Aiyou Colliery when the existing tunnel collapsed. Normally in China, that news alone is reason for despair.

Not this time. At 4:57 am yesterday, three miners were lifted out of the pit. Two minutes later, the four others emerged.

Seven miners lost. Seven miners rescued. A success rate of 100 per cent.

Later at the Fuxin Mining Group Hospital, doctor Sun Xiaowei told China Daily that the miners' condition had stabilized and he was optimistic about their recovery.

"They appear in good health and spirits," said Sun, one of the two chief doctors in charge of their treatment. "One of them even asked for steamed buns this morning."

Aiyou Colliery, located about 160 kilometres west of Shenyang, capital of Northeast China's Liaoning Province, is one of the major production bases affiliated with the Fuxin Mining Group. Last year the mine produced about 1.67 million tons of coal. Of its 3,900 employees, about 2,000 work underground.

The seven miners went into the pit at 4 pm on Saturday to dig the tunnel for a coal excavation machine. The tunnel is about 200 metres, and the miners had already finished most of it. The plan was that they would work for eight hours and come back up.

The cave-in occurred around 7:45 pm, blocking their only way out. At the time, a member of the team had left to bring tools and narrowly escaped.

The accident was reported to the coal mine administration bureau instantly, and a rescue team was organized that night, directed by top executives of the Fuxin Mine Group, the Liaoning Coal Mine Production Administration Bureau and the Liaoning Industrial Administration, who went to the site and set up a rescue operations centre.

They decided to dig on both sides of the tunnel to save time and managed to dig a small air hole.

A small tunnel, 7.6 centimetres in diameter, was finished on Monday morning. It proved to be one of the most important actions in saving the miners' lives, said Chen Shili, a senior official from Fuxin Mining Group Hospital.

"It brought the trapped miners not only water and air but also the hope of life," he said.

The absence of light and water in the mine and the limited amount of air combined with an underground temperature of more than 30 C. Even for miners with strong bodies, it would be a challenge.

After the first 30 hours of being trapped, some of the miners short on water and long on fear had lost their composure, a rescuer who had talked with one of the rescued miners said later.

"We knocked on the casing of the drilling machine and tried to tell them we were there and not to give up," said Meng Qingkun, mining group senior engineer, who directed the rescue.

"And then I heard the most beautiful sound in the world. They began knocking back."

At the 40-hour mark, rescuers began pumping water and blowing fresh air into the tunnel where the miners were trapped.

Digging the 30-metre-long tunnel to save the miners was not an easy work. The team used a detonator to blow away the coal and then transported it outside manually.

But this was 800 metres underground, and the team had to beware of another potential cave-in, which would have eliminated all hope.

Metre by metre, each one taking one hour, the rescue team raced against time. What if the rescue took too much time? No one wanted to even think about it.

Finally, the tunnel-of-life was only 10 metres away. Rescuers had to stop using the detonator because the trapped miners on the other side were now too close. A false move now could be tragic for both sides.

So now, a little drill machine dug carefully in the interest of safety. The rescuers who had worked so hard were replaced by members of the mining group's secure rescue team, specially trained and legendary for their heroism in previous operations.

On the surface, another team was busy with preparations for medical assistance. Fourteen members waited for the order to provide emergency treatment at the moment the tunnel was finished.

"Two doctors are responsible for each miner, equipped with a black-eye patch and saline solution," said Shan Yihong, chief of medical team.

Also waiting were seven ambulances to transport the miners to the hospital immediately. Drivers had already discussed different routes to the hospital to save time.

And while all this took place, other workers waited around the mine pit, eager for good news.

"I know each one of them," said a miner surnamed Li. "We go to eat and bathe every day. I can't go to sleep without knowing they're safe."

Suddenly, a sound. The lift was operating.

The door opened. Out rushed medical workers with stretchers. One, two, three. Each miner was covered with a thick green quilt.

Minutes later, the scene was repeated with four more stretchers.

As the ambulances drove off, the cheers were drowned out by another joyous sound.

Fireworks are a traditional way of announcing a special event in China.

This time it was a triumph.

(China Daily 02/22/2006 page1)