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Coal mine in Hutubi: rescue operation for trapped workers
Photo: Gao Han / AP
In a mining accident in northwest China, 21 miners were trapped by water ingress at a depth of 1200 meters.
The coal mine in Hutubi, a prefecture of Changji in the Xinjiang autonomous region, was flooded on Saturday during expansion work, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.
Eight miners were saved.
The current situation in the mine is "very complex," said Ma Xin, chief of the Changji Emergency Management Bureau.
The most important task at the moment is to pump the water out of the shafts.
Three pumps are already running and a fourth is being installed.
In addition, fresh air was fed into the pit.
As reported by state television, the trapped buddies were roughly located in three different places underground.
The power supply in the pit and the communication lines were reportedly interrupted.
There are frequent mining accidents in China - often due to inadequate safety precautions.
In January, 22 workers were trapped after an explosion in a gold mine in eastern Shandong Province.
It took two weeks for eleven people to be saved, the rest of them died.
In December, 23 people were killed in a mining accident in the southwestern city of Chongqing.
wit / dpa / AFP
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