BEIJING – It will take at least another 15 days to get through a massive amount of debris and reach miners who have been trapped for 11 days since an explosion in a gold mine in East China, authorities said Thursday.
The mine shaft is blocked 300 meters below the surface by 70 tons of debris stretching down another 100 meters, the Yantai city government said in a statement on its social media account.
“Based on expert evaluations, the extent of the blockage … is not to be expected,” the statement said.
An employee died of a head injury in the explosion, state media said earlier Thursday. Of the remaining 21, rescuers have contacted 10, one is said to live in a nearby room and the status of the other 10 is unknown.
The deceased employee was in a coma. Two others are said to be in poor health. Rescue workers provided food, medicine, and other supplies to the group of 11 as they work to clear debris and improve ventilation.
State media reports that some workers have been exhausted since the January 10 explosion broke the mine under construction in Qixia, a jurisdiction under Yantai in Shandong province.
Rescue workers attempted to remove cages and other debris blocking the main shaft while drilling other shafts for communication, ventilation and possibly to lift workers to the surface. Boring has reached a depth of about 700 meters (about 2,000 feet), the reports said.
Mine managers have been detained for waiting more than 24 hours to report the accident, the cause of which has not been disclosed.
Increased surveillance has improved safety in China’s mining sector, which used to kill an average of 5,000 per year. Still, 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.