Nine trapped Chinese miners confirmed dead

BEIJING: Chinese rescue workers have found the bodies of nine more miners after an explosion a fortnight ago, local officials said on Monday, raising the death toll to 10.

It comes a day after 11 miners were pulled out alive from the mine in eastern Shandong province where the blast struck. One miner remains unaccounted for.A group of 22 were trapped hundreds of metres underground by the explosion on January 10, with some relying on food and medicine delivered through long shafts drilled by rescue teams.

“From Sunday afternoon to this afternoon, rescue workers have not stopped searching, and found a further nine trapped miners who unfortunately all died,” the mayor of Yantai city, Chen Fei, said at a briefing on Monday.

“Along with one miner who died on Thursday, the bodies of the nine deceased miners were all lifted out of the mine.” The initial explosion at the Hushan mine occurred in its ventilator shaft, causing a blockage that damaged the cable car.

The head of the rescue team Chen Yumin said it appeared all nine miners had been killed by the impact of a secondary explosion in the mine on January 10 as they tried to climb up to the mine entrance to escape.

A minute´s silence was held at the press conference, and the four officials bowed afterwards to pay respects to the dead. Officials said that the identities of the deceased would be confirmed through DNA testing.

The 11 survivors are in “stable” and “non life-threatening” conditions and are currently receiving medical treatment, according to Qin Chengyong, deputy head of the Shandong provincial health commission. Two are in serious but non life-threatening conditions—including one who had not eaten for 14 days before being rescued.Rescue operations sped up dramatically on Sunday as a blockage in the ventilator shaft was cleared.