XINTAI, Shandong -- Rescuers have not found signs of 181 miners trapped in two flooded coal mines in east China's Shandong Province after 19 days of searching, but they were still pumping water out of the shafts on Wednesday.
By 6 p.m. Wednesday, the rescuers had dug 382 meters below the ground surface and need break through another three meters of soil before they reach the working passage, said sources with the rescue headquarters.
Meanwhile, they were consolidating the entrance of the mine shaft which suffered an unexpected collapse on Tuesday. impeding the rescue work.
Flood water swept through a 65-meter wide breach in the Wenhe River levee on August 17, inundating the Huayuan and Minggong mines in Xintai, leaving 181 miners trapped underground, including 172 miners from Huayuan Coal Mine.
Despite slim chances of survival for the miners, rescuers have been digging an extra 385-meter-deep hole in a hope to reach the working platform where most of the 172 miners were trapped in Huayuan.
Twelve water pumps have been used to extract water from the two flooded coal mines, pumping out a total of 1.57 million cubic meters of water.
Up to Wednesday evening, the water level of Huyuan coal mine had fallen to 25.38 meters, 67.22 meters down from the previous level. Rescuers have to reduce the water level by 55.38 meters to reach the nearest location where some of the 172 miners might be trapped.
