Four miners who had been trapped underground for 36 days in a collapsed Chinese gypsum mine have been rescued, state media reported Friday. The operation to save the men trapped more than 200 metres underground took two hours as each was hauled up to the surface one by one, according to state broadcaster CCTV. Dramatic footage released by CCTV showed rescue crews applauding as the men were brought to the surface in Shandong province, in eastern China, one by one on a narrow capsule.
The men were shown being wrapped in military blankets, and put in ambulances. The four were among 29 trapped when the mine collapsed on December 25. Of the 29 miners, 11 were rescued the following day and one was pronounced dead while 13 remained unaccounted for following the rescue, CCTV said. Rescuers first detected signs of life on December 30. The four were named by CCTV as Hao Zhicheng, aged 50, Li Qiusheng, aged 39, Guan Qingji, aged 58, and Hua Mingxi, aged 36.
Rescuers managed to contact the miners on January 8, the broadcaster reported, and sent down food, clothes and lamps through a tunnel. However, complicated geological conditions made the rescue difficult with crews having to face structural instability of the tunnel and falling rocks. The incident was the latest deadly accident in a country where safety rules are often flouted to cut costs. The mine owner drowned himself at the scene soon after the collapse while he was helping in rescue efforts, Xinhua reported previously.
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