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Death Toll Rises at Flooded Chinese Coal Mine

   VOA News 08 April 2010
   Rescue  workers  continue  to  push  supplies  down  to  mine shaft of
   Wangjialing mine in Xiangning county in north China's Shanxi province,
   07 Apr 2010

Photo: AP

   Rescue  workers  continue  to  push  supplies  down  to  mine shaft of
   Wangjialing mine in Xiangning county in north China's Shanxi province,
   07 Apr 2010

   The  death  toll at a flooded coal mine in northern China has risen to
   12,  just  days  after  the dramatic rescue of 115 miners who had been
   trapped underground for more than a week.
   Rescue  efforts for the 26 miners still trapped were briefly suspended
   Thursday  after  water  began leaking from the ceiling into one of the
   pits.   Rescuers  believed  they were about 100 meters from the areas
   where the miners could be trapped.
   Rescue  headquarters' spokesman Liu Dezheng said pumps to remove water
   are  no  longer  effective  because the submerged area is "like a huge
   swamp."Â  He added that oxygen levels in the mine are low but that the
   gas level is safe.
   The  Wangjialing  coal  mine  in  Shanxi province filled with water on
   March 28, trapping 153 miners. Authorities say the mine likely flooded
   after  workers penetrated old or abandoned shafts that had accumulated
   water.
   On  Monday,  115 workers were rescued after eight days of surviving on
   tree bark and murky water.
   The disaster has highlighted the issue of mine safety in China , where
   more than 2,600 coal miners were killed last year.

   Â

   Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters.

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