Miracle Monday Hindered by Tragic Tuesday at China Coal Mine

A miracle which happened on Monday, that seen a record 115 men rescued from a mine shaft in China, was hindered by a tragic turn of events for the final trapped men on Tuesday. The flood waters that kept the men below the earth’s surface have now risen to dangerous levels and the precious coal they were mining for is producing large levels of several hazardous gases, mainly methane, which is als o preventing the final rescue attempts of the remaining 33 men.

Now in their 10th day of rescue efforts, officials have said there has been no sign of life from the minors left behind for some time now. This could be due to the hazardous gases leaking into the shaft, they could have drowned due to the rising waters or something else, official would not comment. The officials only stated that there were no signs of life at this time. The people in charge also said they were doing everything within their power to save the last victims without endangering more lives in the process.

The accident happened when the miners dug into an abandoned water-filled shaft. As said by the State Administration of Work Safety, a first round inquiry last week noted that mine managers disregarded signs of water outflow before the accident.

According to sources close to the tragedy, the surviving minors tied themselves to the walls of the mine shaft with their belts in order to keep from floating away in the rising waters. Some of them would eat sawdust, small pieces of coal or paper they found just to keep from starving. When an abandoned mining cart floated by, several of the minors climbed in to stay alive while other built a makeshift raft to try and float out but there was nowhere to go.

All of the survivors are now in several local hospitals, resting and recovering from such injuries as hypothermia and malnutrition. Most have their eyes taped until they can readjust and acclimate themselves to being in the light after staying in darkness for over eight days.

China is one of the deadliest mining communities anywhere in the world and their most deadly season on record was 2002 with nearly 7,000 deaths reported. Last year there were 2,631 recorded coal mine deaths. These records are kept by the Coal Mine Safety State Administration.

Since the March 28th accident that found 153 coal miners trapped, another coal mine accident was reported in the Heilongjiang province in Qitaithe city near the northeast of China. The five coal miners were trapped for 106 hours but have since been rescued.

Along with the 115 survivors of this most recent coal mining accident in China, five bodies were also recovered. Officials are not commenting on how they will proceed with the rescue efforts for the remaining 33 victims, but state they are not giving up.