2 more bodies recovered at China mine where 115 saved; death toll at 27, searches continue

2 bodies recovered at China mine where 115 saved

BEIJING — Rescuers recovered the bodies of two miners Saturday at a flooded mine in northern China, bringing the death toll to 27, a state news agency said. Authorities continued pumping water with little hope of finding survivors in the pit where 115 were pulled out alive after more than a week.

The Wangjialing mine flooded March 28 when workers digging tunnels broke into a water-filled abandoned shaft. Of the 153 miners originally trapped, 11 are still missing, Xinhua News Agency said.

Rescue crews were still pumping out water, though it was unlikely anyone could survive nearly two weeks underground.

“It’s difficult to say,” said Wen Changjin, an official with the news center set up at the mine in the northern province of Shanxi, when asked whether there was any hope of finding survivors.

The rescued miners were pulled out after eight days of frantic rescue work. They survived by eating sawdust, tree bark, paper and even coal. Some strapped themselves to the walls of the shafts with their belts to avoid drowning while they slept.

There have been no signs of life from the mine since their rescue on April 5.

A preliminary investigation found the mine’s managers ignored water leaks before the accident.

The rescue was rare good news for China’s mining industry, the deadliest in the world, where accidents killed 2,631 coal miners last year. That’s down from 6,995 deaths in 2002, the most dangerous year on record.