Rescuers have so far discovered 40 bodies at the site of a coal
mine blast that occurred Thursday in Chengde, a city in north
China's Hebei
Province by 14:00 PM, May 22, according to a China News Service
report.
There are?10 miners?still missing, and the rescue
operations are still going on.
In the days of rescue operation,?only one of the trapped
miners has been rescued and he is under treatment in a local
hospital.
The explosion occurred at around 3:00 AM. Thursday when 85
miners were working underground at the Nuan'erhe Colliery.
Thirty-four of them were lifted up to the ground and managed to
escape, with 51 others trapped by Thursday night.
Among the trapped, 49 were locals from Chengde and two were from
Qinglong County in Qinhuangdao, a city neighboring Chengde.
Located at Nanzhangzi Village in Bajia Township, the coal mine
used to be state-owned, but was auctioned to the Beijing Guodian
Zhongneng Electric Fuel Investment Co. Ltd. for 65 million yuan
(US$7.8 million) in Dec. 2003.
(Xinhua News Agency May 22, 2005)
