Relief is mobilized in China this Sunday to help 18 people trapped underground after the collapse of a gold mine in the Xinjiang region (northwest), according to the New China agency.
The incident occurred at around 1:40 p.m. (6:40 a.m. French time) on Saturday in Yining county, Ili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture, media said. The area is located about a hundred kilometers from Kazakhstan.
A total of 40 people were working underground when the incident occurred. Twenty two miners were brought to the surface but 18 remain trapped.
regular accidents
“Rescue operations are underway to recover the miners,” Xinhua said late Saturday.
Mine safety has improved in recent decades in China, as has media coverage of these incidents, many of which were once overlooked. But accidents still happen regularly, due to the inherent danger of the sector and the sometimes random application of safety instructions.
In December 2021, two miners who were stranded in a flooded coal mine in Shanxi (north) died and 20 others were saved after rescue operations.
In September last year, 19 miners trapped underground after the collapse of a coal mine in Qinghai province (northwest) were found dead after a long search.
Source: BFM TV
