5th miner rescued from caved-in coal mine in N China
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Xinhua, November 19, 2011
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| Five of the 12 miners trapped underground a caved-in coal mine in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region have been rescued by 10:15 a.m. Saturday, rescue headquarters said. |
Rescuers had pulled out five of the 12 miners trapped underground in a collapsed coal mine in north China's coal-rich Inner Mongolia autonomous region by noon on Saturday, rescue headquarters said.
The fifth miner was lifted out of the mine at about 11:30 a.m., more than 30 hours after the mine in Xianghuang banner (county) of Xilin Gol league collapsed.
Rescuers had rescued four other miners earlier Saturday morning, and they were immediately sent to a nearby hospital from the mine 350 km northeast of the autonomous region's capital city of Hohhot.
All five rescued miners are in non-life-threatening conditions, doctors said.
Rescuers are continuing efforts to save the remaining seven miners, including two that have been confirmed alive, sources with the headquarters said.
At the time of the accident, 13 miners were working underground and only one succeeded in escaping, according to the headquarters.
An initial investigation found that the mine's floor-to-roof pillars were "insufficient."
The cave-in is the latest in a series of recent coal mine accidents in China.
On Nov. 10, an underground gas burst in the southwestern province of Yunnan trapped 43 miners, of whom 35 have been confirmed dead while the other eight remain missing.
On Tuesday, another gas leak in a coal mine in the central province of Hubei killed six miners.
