18 workers trapped as mine collapses in China
Eighteen workers are trapped after a mine collapsed in China, state media said.
The official Xinhua News Agency said 11 of the 29 workers were rescued when the gypsum mine collapsed in the eastern province of Shandong on Christmas Day.
The remaining 18 are trapped at two sites and officials say they cannot be immediately rescued.
Xinhua said rescuers lifted one miner, whose leg was struck under a boulder, from the shaft this morning.
The Pingyi county government said the gypsum mine is owned by Yurong Commercial and Trade Ltd. Co.
The mine collapse came just days after a landslide from a man-made pileup of construction waste in the southern city of Shenzhen killed one person and left another 75 missing and presumed dead.
China’s mines have long been the world’s deadliest, but safety improvements have reduced deaths in recent years.
Last year, 931 people died in mine accidents throughout China, drastically down from the year 2002, when nearly 7,000 miners were killed.
