BEIJING (AP) – Chinese rescue workers have found the bodies of nine workers who died in explosions at a gold mine, raising the death toll to 10, officials said Monday.
Eleven others were rescued the day before after being trapped underground in the mine in Shandong Province for two weeks. One person was still missing.
The cause of the accident at the mine, which was under construction, is being investigated. The explosions on January 10 released 70 tons of debris that blocked a shaft, rendered elevators inoperable and trapped workers underground.
Rescuers drilled parallel shafts to send food and nutrients down, eventually picking up the survivors on Sunday.
Chen Yumin, director of the rescue group, told reporters that the nine workers who recovered Monday died more than 400 meters underground. He said there had been two explosions about an hour and a half apart, with the second explosion causing more damage.
The search for the remaining miner will continue until it is found, said Chen Fei, the mayor of the city of Yantai, where the mine is located.
“Until this employee is found, we will not give up,” he said at a news conference.
Chen and other officials involved in the rescue held a moment of silence for the victims and bowed their heads.
“Our hearts are deeply sad. We offer our deepest condolences and our deepest condolences to the families of the victim, ”he said.
Authorities have arrested mine managers for delaying reporting the accident.
Such lengthy and costly rescue efforts are relatively new in China’s mining industry, which used to kill an average of 5,000 a year.
Tighter surveillance has improved safety, although the demand for coal and precious metals is still leading to cutting corners. After two accidents last year in the mountainous southwest of Chongqing, a new crackdown was ordered after 39 miners were killed.