China mine survivors make tearful contact with relatives

SHANXI - Some 115 miners who survived more than a week inside a flooded coalmine in northern China, Thursday made their first tearful contact with relatives since their rescue.

The first communication was by telephone, as doctors are keeping them isolated from their families because of their frail physical condition, Xinhua reported.

“I feel fine. I am recovering. Take good care of our daughter,” one survivor told his wife.

Liu was among the survivors rescued Monday from the Wangjialing Coalmine in Shanxi province. Twenty miners were killed and 18 others missing since the flooding March 28.

“I haven’t seen my family since Feb 1. I miss them so much,” he said.

Liu said his wife and daughter had arrived in Hejin city, near the coalmine on the day when the flooding occurred due to a leakage from an adjacent abandoned mine, and since then she had been waiting to hear from him.

Doctors have persuaded the miners to keep calm and call their families when their health condition improves.

“The miners suffered starvation for more than a week. Their bodies are still frail, although recovering. They are likely to get agitated when talking with their families,” said Liu Qiang, deputy director of the medical team attending the survivors.

He said hospitals treating the survivors gave them cell phones to call their families Thursday.

The rescue headquarters has forbidden visits and kept the media out of the wards. Some reporters were allowed to observe the wards from the corridors.

“Many miners begged us to call their families, but we persuaded them to wait till their health allowed it,” said Wu Ruixia, a nurse in charge at the Shanxi Aluminum Plant Hospital. Twenty worst affected survivors were admitted to the hospital.

She said hospital staff had helped many miners to send text messages to their families.

“None of the survivors was in intensive care,” said Liu Hong, head of intensive care of the hospital in the Shanxi provincial capital of Taiyuan.

“The mine company had arranged accommodation for us and treated us like family,” said Gao Zhenke, father of a survivor.

About 600 relatives are staying near the coalmine waiting to visit their loved ones, according to the rescue headquarters.

“We know the authorities are doing their utmost. We should not disturb them,” Gao said. “I can’t wait to go to hospital to visit my husband,” said Sun Huan, wife of miner Li Guoyu. She said her husband is the only breadwinner of the family.