April 13, 2021 - Xinhua news has reported that eight miners have been rescued and 21 remain trapped in a flooded coal mine in Xinjiang, China.

The accident occurred at 6:10 p.m. local time on Saturday (10th April 2021), when 29 workers were upgrading the coal mine in Hutubi County, the Hui Autonomous Prefecture of Changji.

Rescue teams have located all the trapped miners, state broadcaster CCTV said, “Twelve were on one platform, eight on a second platform, and the last worker in an escape route, it said. The flooding is reported to have hampered rescue efforts by cutting power underground and disrupting communication lines.”

Rescue teams have been trying to pump water out of the flooded mine shaft.

Image: Yahoo News

Bao Yongsheng, deputy head of Changji and Ma Xin, director of Changji’s emergency management bureau said:”The workers are trapped approximately 1,200 meters underground, the underground environment is very complex and drainage is the foremost concern at present. Three sets of drainage equipment are pumping out water at speeds of 450 cubic meters per hour. A fourth set is currently being installed and is expected to double efficiency once in operation.”

By midday on Sunday, state media reported that more than 1,400 people were involved in the rescue operation. Twenty-five ambulances and dozens of medical professionals were at the scene.

Twenty-two workers have been trapped underground following an explosion in a gold mine which is under construction in east China’s Shandong Province, local authorities reported at late Monday night.

The accident happened at 2 pm on Sunday at Wucailong gold mine in Yantai, Shandong. However, the Yantai government did not receive the accident report from Qixia authorities until 8:48 pm Monday.

Shandong Authorities said the rescue team had been unable to contact the trapped miners as the blast damaged the communication signal system underground.

The mine is owned by Shandong Wukailong Investment, which is named by Zhaojin Mining, China’s fourth-biggest gold mine.