Rescue work is still going on to save the three miners who have
been trapped in a coal mine in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous
Region, northwest China, by floodwaters for five days.
An
unprecedented flood and hailstorm hit Zhaosu and Qapqal in Ili
Prefecture last Saturday, submerging the No. 2 coal mine at
Zhaosu.
Five miners were working in the pit and three others on the ground
when the flood struck. Five were saved and three others were still
stranded in the pit some 100 meters underground.
The local government has sent three rescue squads to pump water
from the pit. But the process is slow as the pumps have been
occasionally blocked by silt, tree branches and animal bodies.
(Xinhua News
Agency June 20, 2002)
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