China gold mine blast: 10 confirmed dead and one still missing a day after 11 survivors rescued
- Rescuers find the bodies of a group who were trying to escape through a tunnel following the explosion in Shandong province
- The 11 survivors who were brought to the surface on Sunday are now receiving medical treatment and counselling
Rescuers have confirmed that at least 10 miners were killed in an explosion in eastern China a day after 11 of their colleagues were rescued.
One man is still missing and the rescue team vowed to keep searching until he is found.
One miner was already known to have died, and the bodies of nine others who are thought to have been killed in a second blast while trying to escape were found on Monday.
Rescuers had made contact with a group trapped around 580 metres (1,900ft) underground last week and were able to send down supplies of food and medicine through “lifelines” drilled in the rock. One of the party died last week from head injuries, and his body was brought to the surface along with the survivors on Sunday.
Another miner had been trapped on his own and had no contact with rescuers until he was discovered in an “extremely weak” condition and brought to the surface the same day.
Xiao Wenru, chief engineer at the emergency management ministry’s mine rescue centre, told a press conference on Monday that the man “survived for so long because there was water in the section and fresh air travelled underground through the drilled holes”.