Beijing – It will soon be the tenth day of a meticulously slow mine rescue operation in China’s Shandong province. State media say 22 workers were trapped more than 2,000 meters underground after an explosion damaged the access well to the gold mine on January 10th.
Rescue efforts have been going on ever since, with workers drilling a series of small holes deep in the ground to reach the trapped miners. So far they have sent at least three rounds of food and medicine.
It has also allowed lifeguards to communicate with the trapped men, first by handwritten notes and now by a telephone line. After a urgent and initial application for medication and painkillers, the miners on Tuesday demanded that porridge and pickles be sent.
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A note released Sunday confirmed that 12 miners were living at the time, 11 of them together, but one was about 150 feet below the group. They said they were suffering from toxic fumes and raising the water level.
The fate of the other 10 miners was still unclear on Tuesday. Lifeguards called the drill pipe that was carrying them early Monday, but there was no response.
The holes work for food and medicine, but they are only a foot wide, so they are useless for retrieving miners trapped on the surface.
Wider rescue axes are being drilled, but as of Tuesday the main axis remained the only way in or out, and officials said the stability of this step could not yet be verified.
Xinhua / Wang Kai / Getty