Mine Explosion Traps Over 50 People

A coal mine cave-in Thursday evening in China has left over 50 people trapped underground. Four were killed during the initial rock blast and 14 were able to escape. But dozens more are still waiting to be rescued.

CBS News reports that the rock explosion occurred right after a 2.9 level earthquake shook near the mine in the city of Sanmenxia in Henan province. “The phenomenon occurs when settling earth bears down on mine walls and causes a sudden release of stored energy. The exploding chunks of coal and rock, or the shock waves alone, can be lethal,” according to MSNBC.

Rescuers came to the scene Friday morning and were able to pull seven miners from the rubble but are still trying to reach the 50 others. In total, 75 miners were working at the time of the blast. NPR reports that “the rescued miners lay on stretchers, wrapped with blankets with their eyes covered by towels to prevent them from being damaged by the sudden exposure to light after hours of being trapped.”

The mine belongs to Yima Coal Group, which is a state-owned coal company in the area. Xinhua News Agency reports that the “workers were digging a tunnel about 2,500 feet long, but after the rock burst, the tunnel appeared to have "basically folded" a little more than halfway down the passage, at 1,580 feet.” Officials at this point do not know the chance of survival because it depends on how much ventilation and oxygen is constantly reaching the workers.

The coal mines in China are known around the world to be the deadliest. According to CBS News, annual fatalities are now about one-third of the high of nearly 7,000 in 2002. Just last Sunday a gas explosion at one of the mines in the Hunan province killed 29 people.  

So far, hundreds of people have gathered at the mine to help dig the workers out to safety.

Photo by Florian.