Eight Chinese miners were found alive on Wednesday, five days after a gypsum mine in the country’s Shandong province collapsed on Christmas Day, AP reported. At least one worker was killed in the incident, while 11 were rescued and nine others are still missing.
Rescuers are trying to work out how to pull these eight miners to safety, after infrared cameras detected them waving their hands, state broadcaster China Central Television reported. The surviving miners are reportedly weak with hunger, but in good overall health. The Xinhua news agency said the rescuers sent provisions to the men trapped underground in passages that were still intact after the collapse.
The national earthquake bureau had detected a quiver with a magnitude of 4.0 at the mine site as the collapse had triggered seismic activity. The owner of the mine, Ma Congbo, committed suicide two days after the incident, while four senior officials in the Pingyi county, where the mine is located, were fired.
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