Ten coal miners are now known to have died in a flood at the Zhengsheng Coal Mine in Shanxi Province, northern China, at about 3.10 pm local time (about 7.10 am GMT) on 28 September 2013. There were 42 miners working underground at the mine when the incident happened, 30 of whom were evacuated safely immediately after the accident. Two further miners, Zhu Bangkui, 47, Zhang Rongfei, 20, were pulled from the mine on Tuesday 8 October 2013, following a 10 rescue operation involving 74 pumps and over 800 rescue workers. The men have been taken to the Fenyang People's Hospital, where they are described as conscious and stable, but suffering from malnutrition.
The body of a miner being carried from the Zhengsheng Coal Mine by rescue workers on 8 October 2013. Xinhua.
The Zhengsheng Coal Mine is operated by the Shanxi Coking Coal Group, a state-owned mining company. It typically produces around 900 000 tonnes of coal per year. The cause of the flooding is not yet known, though sudden floods at pit mines are typically caused by miners hitting undetected bodies of water bellow ground.
See also Second explosion at Jilin mine kills at least seven more workers, Twenty-eight miners reported dead after explosion at Chinese coal mine, Seven workers killed by mine explosion in Hunan Province, China, Miners trapped by flooding at Qielichong Coal Mine in Hunan Province, China and At least 21 miners killed in mining disaster in Yunnan Province, China.
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