No signs of life in flooded coal mine

XIANGNING - Thirteen rescuers, including six divers, entered a flooded coal mine in north China's Shanxi province Saturday to search for 153 workers that have been trapped for almost a week, but they returned with information not so optimistic.

Meanwhile, no more signs of life were found after tapping on the drill pipe was heard Friday from underground.

Miners prepare for a rescue mission at the site of flooding accident of Wangjialing Coal Mine, in Shanxi province April 3, 2010. [Photo/Xinhua]

The team of rescuers were sent down to explore the flooded shaft in the Wangjialing Coal Mine at 1 p.m. to prepare for a large scale operation, a spokesman with the rescue headquarters said.

The divers were carrying underwater cameras to film the environment in the shaft, he said.

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But they all said the situation underground was "very complicated" and the water was "murky and deep" when they returned to the surface successively after 3 p.m.

"Under normal conditions, we can work for two hours underwater, but only about an hour in complicated situation with bad water quality," a diver told Xinhua.

"I could not go too far underground due to restrictions of equipment I brought," he said.

The spokesman with the rescue headquarters has said early Sunday morning was the soonest time when a large-scale rescue operation could be launched.

Rescuers sent down an explosion-proof telephone through the drill pipe to the pit Saturday noon, hoping to hear the voices of the trapped or other sings of life.

But no sounds were heard.

Rescuers have sent more than 360 bags of glucose, each 200 ml, down the 250-meter coal mine after hearing banging on the metal pipe Friday.

About 3,000 rescuers are racing the clock to pump water and reach the trapped miners.

"The brothers trapped in the shaft have no food to eat and no quilts to cover themselves. Yes, we are very tired, but that is nothing (to compare with them)," said Wang Honglin, a rescuer.

"Our biggest hope is to stand at the shaft entrance and greet our brothers walking out of the pit one by one," he said.