New life detector used but no sign of trapped miners
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A new underwater camera was used Monday to look for 31 miners unaccounted for after a mine flood March 1 in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.
Rescuers began looking for signs of life Saturday but have found none as of 5 p.m. Monday, said Lan Yi, a spokesman with the emergency rescue headquarters at Luotuoshan Coal Mine in Wuhai, a city about 600 km from the regional capital, Hohhot.
The new camera, costing 300,000 yuan (43,940 U.S.dollars), was sent to the rescue site on Monday morning. Through it, rescuers can see the underground mining platform clearly, where 12 miners were supposed to be when the pit was flooded on March 1.
One of the three previously used detectors showed only blurred images, while the other two were unsuitable for working deep underground, Lan said.
On Saturday the rescuers managed to drill a hole to reach a mining shaft 202 meters deep, where 12 workers were believed to be trapped.
Underground water flooded a pit of Luotuoshan Coal Mine in Wuhai City on March 1 when 77 miners were working.
One miner was confirmed dead, 45 were rescued while 31 were unaccounted for.
The missing miners are from Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region and provinces of Gansu, Shaanxi and Henan, according to a full name list published Saturday.
Luotuoshan Coal Mine, which is still under construction, is owned by Wuhai Energy Co. Ltd. under Shenhua Group Corp. Ltd., the country's largest coal producer.
Construction of the mine started in 2006. It is designed to produce 1.5 million tonnes of coal a year.
Last year, Inner Mongolia replaced the northern Shanxi Province to become China's leading coal base with 637 million tonnes of output.
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