Chinese rescuers say some trapped miners could still be alive, though still no contact

Chinese rescuers hopeful some miners still alive

BEIJING — Four days after a flood trapped 153 miners in a coal mine, rescue officials in northern China held out hope that some of those stuck underground could be alive even though no contact had been made.

The flood at the Wangjialing mine in Shanxi province started when workers digging tunnels broke through into an old shaft filled with water, a government safety body said Wednesday, as it accused mine officials of ignoring safety rules and danger warnings in a rush to open the mine.

Hopes have been fading despite the efforts of more than 1,500 rescuers tunneling and laying pipes around the clock to drain away water, but a spokesman of the rescue headquarters said late Wednesday that some of the miners might still be alive. Relatives of the trapped miners have demanded quicker action.

The official Xinhua News Agency cited Liu Dezheng as saying the trapped miners had been working in nine different platforms when water gushed in, and some of the platforms were above the underground water level.

“It is believed that some workers may have a chance of survival,” Liu said in the report. “We will go all out to save them.”

Still, the progress of the rescue has been slow. The mine was flooded with up to 5 million cubic feet (140,000 cubic meters) of water, state television said, but Liu said that by Wednesday evening, pumping had reduced the water level by just 7 inches (18 centimeters) — a total of 900,000 cubic feet (26,000 cubic meters).

A preliminary investigation found that the mine’s managers caused overcrowding in the shaft by assigning extra tunneling crews in a rush to finish the work, and ignored warning signs, the State Administration of Work Safety has said.

“Water leaks were found numerous times on underground shafts,” it said, but the mine’s managers “did not take the actions necessary to evacuate people.”

It could prove the deadliest mine accident in China since a coal mine flood in eastern Shandong province in August 2007 killed 172 miners. The latest disaster is a setback to recent, significant improvements in Chinese mines. They are the world’s deadliest, claiming thousands of lives each year.

Dozens of relatives have turned up at the mine demanding quicker action in heated confrontations with officials, prompting a heavy police presence at the site. The main, winding mountain road leading to the mine was sealed off by police, who allowed only authorized vehicles to pass.

The mine covers about 70 square miles (180 square kilometers). Xinhua said it was expected to produce 6 million tons of coal annually once it opened later this year.

Accidents killed 2,631 coal miners in China last year, down from 6,995 deaths in 2002, the most dangerous year on record, according to the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety. That is an average of more than seven miners a day in 2009, down from 19 in 2002.