Rescuers were striving to reach and save the 181 miners who had been trapped in flooded coal pits for a whole week in east China's Shandong Province.
"We have met with difficulties in the rescue work, but we are using every minute to pump water and save them," said Zhao Tiechui, director of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety at a news briefing on Friday.
At 10:00 AM Friday, water level in the Huayuan mine where 172 miners are trapped dropped to 64.26 meters, but another 94 meters of water remained to be pumped to reach the 14 nearest miners.
Technicians and a dozen rescuers were installing more powerful pumping facilities to bring capacity to 5,000 cubic meters per hour. By Thursday, four pumps with a total capacity of 2,500 cubic meters per hour were operating around the clock.
More than 100,000 cubic meters of water had been pumped out since rescue operation began, but flood experts estimated the pit was flooded by more than 12 million cubic meters of water, a volume that was "unprecedented" in any colliery flooding accidents in China in recent years.
In the nearby Minggong mine, three pumps had been installed.
By Thursday, two drilling derricks from the Shengli Oilfield had begun to drill wells to divert water from the flooded shafts. They had dug 119 meters, almost one-third of the 385-meter target.
Dozens of rescuers were stacking filled sandbags around the dykes of the Wenhe River to prevent the water from leaking into mine pits.
Another group of rescuers were trying to block the shafts where the flood was sent in from the river.
At the Huayuan Mine, local miners were still helping the rescue team. "Nobody wants to leave. The trapped people are our family and friends. We can't give up, and we will do everything to save them," said a miner.
"If there is only a one-percent chance of their survival, we will do all we can to save them, and we will not give up," said Wang Junmin, vice governor of Shandong Province.
Last Friday, flood water swept through a 65-meter wide breach in the Wenhe River levee, inundating the Huayuan and Minggong mines, leaving 181 people trapped underground.
Chinese water resources specialists blamed the disaster largely on heavy rain and inadequate flood prevention facilities.
Apart from the rescue work, consolation work was also underway for the families of the trapped workers. The tragedy had a heavy blow on the company's community, and one out of every 50 families has someone trapped down the pit.
Sixty family members had been hospitalized with high blood pressure or heart problems, said Huangpu Tinghua, deputy general manager of Huayuan Mining Co. Ltd.
The company had sent 545 employees to counsel the families of the victims after the accident. The government of Tai'an City also sent 134 medical staff to take care of the families.
"We are keeping close eyes on their families, especially those who have fallen ill. We can't have any more casualties from the families now," said Huang Longhua, a local official of Tai'an City and head of the consolation work team.
(Xinhua News Agency August 25, 2007)
