21 miners confirmed dead after water flooded northern China coal mine | iNFOnews | Thompson-Okanagan's News Source
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21 miners confirmed dead after water flooded northern China coal mine

In this April 22, 2015 photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, rescuers transport relief materials into the Jiangjiawan mine near the northern city of Datong, China's Shanxi Province. Search teams have recovered the bodies of more than 20 Chinese coal miners who died when the shaft where they were working filled with water, an official said Thursday.(Yan Yan/Xinhua via AP) NO SALES
Original Publication Date April 22, 2015 - 2:35 AM

BEIJING, China - Search teams have recovered the bodies of 21 Chinese coal miners who died when the shaft where they were working filled with water, an official said Thursday.

After days of frantic rescue efforts following the accident Sunday, the final death toll of 21 was confirmed by a Datong city government official who gave only his surname, Meng. More than 600 rescuers had been working to pump water from the shaft and drill holes from the surface at the Jiangjiawan mine near the northern city of Datong.

A total of 247 miners were underground when water rushed into the shaft Sunday evening.

Of those, 223 people made it safely to the surface while three of those trapped were rescued and were recovering in hospital.

Such accidents are usually caused by breaches of abandoned shafts where water has collected over time.

China has seen a dramatic drop in accidental deaths in its notoriously dangerous mines, partly as a result of improved safety measures but also because of falling coal production levels as the slowing economy reduces demand.

News from © The Associated Press, 2015
The Associated Press

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