(Xinhua)
Updated: 2007-12-13 21:04

Fangchang, Anhui -- Rescuers on Thursday detected signs of life in a collapsed iron ore mine tunnel in east China's Anhui Province, suggesting seven miners who have been trapped there for two days might still be alive.

The rescue team used an electronic life detection device, but the communication system underground has been destroyed completely and rescuers cannot establish contact with the miners.

Sixty armed police were dispatched Thursday to reinforce the 140-member rescue team to excavate the blocked tunnel and clear the silt, a spokesman for the rescue headquarters told reporters.

"It is expected that tunnel can be broken through tomorrow morning," he said at the Yangchong Iron Mine in Fanchang County, Wuhu City.

More than 30 medical workers and several ambulances were standby at the mine to prepare for rendering immediate service.

"We went down the shaft at noon and have worked for about four hours," said a rescuer, who emerged with a dozen of fellow workers covered in sweat and mud.

"Dozens of people were working in turns underground. The greatest difficulty is to clear the fallen rocks," he said.

The collapse at the Yangchong Iron Mine happened around 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday when falling rock and mud blocked access to the shaft, said Cheng Chuanru, head of the Anhui Provincial Work Safety Administration.

Most of the trapped miners, aged 29 to 55, were local villagers.

The owner of the mine, Wang Yuanfa, has been in police custody since Tuesday night.

The privately-owned iron ore mine was built in 1987. It was renovated this year with a designed output of 30,000 tons annually.