Nine miners rescued from flooded Chinese mine

XIANGNING - Nine miners, who had been trapped in a flooded coal mine in north China’s Shanxi province for over a week, were rescued Monday.

About 144 other miners remain trapped in the mine and rescue workers reported hearing banging sounds indicating signs of life, Xinhua reported.

Water gushed into the pit of the under-construction Wangjialing coal mine at about 1.40 p.m. March 28.

Over 360 bags of glucose were sent down the 250-metre deep coal mine after rescuers heard knocking on a metal pipe Friday.

An investigating team entered the mine Saturday and reported back that the situation was “very complicated”.

Thousands of people who had been standing outside the mine at night burst into applause when the ambulances carrying the survivors passed by.

“I would be more than happy to see whoever is brought out of the mine, even if he is not my father,” said a young man waiting for his family member to return to safety.

Over the past week, about 3,000 rescuers and 300 experts have been mobilized for the rescue operation. Fourteen pumps have been pumping out water for the past six days, with an average of 2,500 cubic metres water being pumped per hour.