Four people suffocated to death when they were attempting to
steal cables from a mine shaft in Henan Province on January 29,
Zhengzhou Daily reported today.
Yingyang police station received a report that several dead
bodies were found in an abandoned mine shaft in Wangtang Village,
Yingyang Town, at 6 PM on January 29.
Police reached the scene, discovering that a small entrance was
dug out of the closed mine shaft, which doesn't have a ventilation
systems or power supply.
After the 15-hour rescue, police were able to get the four
bodies out of the shaft, the report said.
The bodies were identified as four local villagers, who sneaked
into the mine shaft to steal cables with handsaws and torches on
January 27, but they suffocated to death because of lack of oxygen
when they reached 400 meters in the shaft, the police said after an
investigation.
(Shanghai Daily February 5, 2007)