Owner of collapsed Chinese gypsum mine helped rescue team then killed himself, say authorities
Company boss Ma Congbo had joined the search for 17 missing workers
The owner of a gypsum mine, which collapsed on Friday in eastern China, killing one person and leaving 17 others trapped, committed suicide early on Sunday morning, local authorities say.
Twenty-nine people were working underground when the cave-in occurred at 7.56pm in Pingyi county under Linyi city in Shandong province.
Four managed to escape and another seven workers have been freed.
Rescuers have drilled a hole to one area where workers are trapped and were trying to send supplies down and establish contact with them.
Linyi mayor Zhang Shuping said more than 700 rescuers were working to free the workers.
The mine is owned by the Yurong company, whose chairman is Ma Congbo. He was working with the rescue team when he jumped into water at the scene and drowned himself at 2am.
The cause of the cave-in is under investigation.
Six people were rescued on Friday, while another miner, whose leg was trapped by a boulder, was freed early on Saturday.
One of the rescued is in intensive care in stable condition.
Mao Yanqing, who was working in the mine, said he experienced shock waves “like a hurricane” when the accident happened. Mao suffered bone fractures in both legs.
“When I woke up, I found myself in the hospital,” he was quoted by the state-run news agency Xinhua as saying.
Miner Zhai Guangmong said the cave-in was huge, and afterwards “I could see nothing at all”.
Rescuers are trying to reach the miners through two main locations by using existing shafts that were damaged in the collapse.
Heavy machinery is trying to clear a path, but the instability of the tunnels and falling rocks are hindering the effort, according to the rescue team.
