Illegal work blamed in mine disaster

Search continues for 14 coal miners who are still missing in flooded pit

A flood in a coal mine in Qitaihe in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, where 14 miners remain trapped, was the result of illegal mining, according to local authorities.

As of Monday evening, rescuers were still pumping water out of Furuixiang Coal Mine, which flooded at about 11:40 pm on Saturday, but rescuers could not predict when the water will be drained, Li Shuguang, an official in charge of emergency response with the city's work safety bureau, told China Daily.

Floodwater is pumped from the Furuixiang Coal Mine in Qitaihe city, Heilongjiang province, on Monday. Fourteen miners were trapped underground after a flood at the mine on Saturday. [Photo by Qin Cunguang / for China Daily]

"The rescue operation is a race against time. I am convinced there is still hope to save the trapped miners. The rescuers will never give up," he said.

But he said rescue headquarters were unable to locate the trapped miners.

Fourteen miners had been trapped in the pit for more than 50 hours as of press time on Monday. Five pumps have been put into use and are able to drain 455 metric tons of water per hour.

"The mine's owner deliberately hid the real conditions in the pit and provided us with a false map," Li said. "That led to a miscalculation of the amount of floodwater in the pit."

In addition, the bad weather is posing challenges for the rescue.

Heavy snow began to fall at about 4 pm on Monday, and forecasts predict the snow will not stop until Wednesday.

The lowest temperature in the early morning of Tuesday in Qitaihe will be -11 C, according to China Meteorological Administration.

Local authorities have mobilized more than 300 experienced miners to join the rescue operation, according to Li.

The rescuers are divided into five teams and work day and night, according to Qu Yuguo, a veteran miner participating in the rescue operation.

Twenty-two miners were working underground when the accident occurred. Six managed to escape.

Rescuers later found two workers, who were close to the ground. They were sent to Qitaihe City People's Hospital where they are in stable condition, according to their doctor Wang Qingbin.

The police have placed the mine's owner, Xiao Lidong, in custody, and frozen the mine's assets.

A preliminary investigation has found the mine transgressed its approved mining boundary, and miners accidentally drilled into a nearby pit that had been shut down and was flooded with water, Li said.

Zhang Hongyi, a nurse at the hospital, said the injured miners are receiving psychological counseling.

Thirty-seven-year-old Sheng Naidong, a miner rescued after the accident, receives treatment at Qitaihe City People's Hospital on Monday. [Photo by Zhou Huiying/China Daily]

Wang Yaquan, one of the two miners rescued after the accident, said he and his colleagues heard a strange whistling sound when working in the pit on Saturday night before the water burst into the shaft.

He spent 10 hours trying to get out of the mine, meeting rescuers when he was 20 meters away from the exit.

The central government has pledged to close about 20,000 illegal and unsafe mines by 2015 in an effort to ensure safe mining, Yang Dongliang, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, told a conference on mine safety in September.

Contact the writers at zhouhui-ying@chinadaily.com.cn and zhaolei@chinadaily.com.cn