Two trapped miners rescued after fatal colliery blast

Updated: 2008-08-02 18:32

YUZHOU - Rescuers have brought two of the 11 trapped miners alive from a central China coal pit in which 14 died in a coal gas blast.

They were in stable condition and receiving medical checks in the mine hospital on Saturday, said Xu Junji, the rescue group head of the Pingyu Coal and Power Company.

The rescued pair, Zhao Bingchao and Guo Songfeng, made contact with the rescuers on a fixed telephone in the mine on Friday, said Zhao, a maintenance worker.

"I was checking the gas density in the mine about 20 meters from the shelter room, when the accident occurred," recalled Zhao.

On his way to the shelter room, he met Guo, a gas monitoring worker. They waited for rescue in the room which has drinking water and oxygen supplies, and were saved on Saturday morning.

The coal and gas blast occurred at around 1 a.m. in the No. 4 mine owned by Pingyu Coal and Power in Liangbei Town, when 50 miners were underground. Twenty-five managed to escape.

Rescuers found the bodies of 14 others.

The locations and conditions of the other nine workers remained unclear, according to the rescue headquarters.

There are three shelter rooms in the mine. It was unclear whether the missing nine miners were in the other two rooms.

A rescue team of 40 are continuing to work to save the miners.

The mine, which has been in operation for almost 50 years, has a production capacity of 300,000 tons.