84 miners rescued from flooded mine in China

BEIJING - Eighty-four of the 153 miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in China’s Shanxi province for over a week were rescued Monday, Xinhua reported.

The flood occurred around 1.40 p.m. March 28 after workers dug a hole into an abandoned pit filled with underground water at the Wangjialing coal mine in Xiangning county - 261 workers were in the pit when the water gushed in. Of them, 108 were able to get out while 153 others were trapped in the shaft.

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.

The accident is being termed as one of the deadliest coal mine accidents in the country since two mines flooded in Shandong province in August 2007, killing 181 people.