BEIJING (AP) – Eleven workers trapped for two weeks by an explosion in a Chinese gold mine were safely brought to the surface on Sunday.
State broadcaster CCTV showed that on Sunday afternoon workers were picked up one by one in baskets, their eyes shielded to protect them after so many days in the dark.
An employee is said to have died of a head injury after the explosion that dumped massive amounts of debris into the shaft on Jan. 10 while the mine was still under construction.
The fate of 10 others who were underground at the time is unknown. Authorities have arrested mine managers for delaying reporting the accident.
The official China Daily said on its website that seven of the workers were able to walk to the ambulances independently.
State broadcaster CCTV showed numerous ambulances parked next to technical vehicles at the mine in Qixia, a jurisdiction under Yantai in Shandong province.
Tighter surveillance has improved safety in the Chinese mining industry, where an average of 5,000 deaths per year used to occur. However, the demand for coal and precious metals continues to lead to cutting corners, and 39 miners were killed in two accidents in Chongqing last year.