2016年CRI Miners Saved 36 Days after Collapse

 

The four miners have been named as Guan Qingji, Hua Mingxi, Li Qiusheng and Zhao Zhicheng. 

They were brought to the surface one after another through an specially¹ drilled access shaft² between 9:20 and 10:50 local time, late on Friday. 

They are now receiving treatment at a local hospital. 

The medical staff said they suffered no major injuries and may be able to join their families before the Spring Festival, next week. 

The gypsum mine collapsed³ on the Christmas Day in Pingyi County, when 29 miners were working underground. 

Eleven of them were saved immediately after the accident with one confirmed dead. 

The rescue team later drilled four small tunnels to help locate the four trapped in a space no longer than 50 meters. 

Fu Wei with Shandong Provincial⁴ Work Safety Bureau said the largest difficulty for the rescue operation was dealing⁵ with the precarious⁶ geological conditions. 

"The two biggest obstacles were continual cave-ins and water outbursts underground that had threatened the lives of rescuers and forced the rescue operation to be suspended several times." 

To reach the miners, the rescuers drilled a shaft more than 220 meters deep through limestone⁷, sandstone and gypsum. 

Du Bingjian with the National mine rescue team said this was the first time that a rescue process such as this had been used in China, which brought unprecedented⁸ difficulties.

"We had never operated a rescue this way. Continual cave-ins had led to structural⁹ distortion in the mine that is still worsening. It's difficult to drill holes while taking preventive measures in such a circumstances." 

Around 1,000 people have been working over the past month on the rescue operation. 

13 other miners are still missing.

The owner of the mine committed suicide by jumping into a flooded shaft in the earlier days of the rescue. 

The county's Communist Party chief, government head and two deputy heads have been sacked following the accident.

Several executives of the mine are under police investigation¹⁰. 

For CRI, this is Li Jianhua.

1 specially   

adv.特定地；特殊地；明确地

参考例句：

• They are specially packaged so that they stack easily.它们经过特别包装以便于堆放。
• The machine was designed specially for demolishing old buildings.这种机器是专为拆毁旧楼房而设计的。

2 shaft   

n.(工具的)柄，杆状物

参考例句：

• He was wounded by a shaft.他被箭击中受伤。
• This is the shaft of a steam engine.这是一个蒸汽机主轴。

3 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

4 provincial   

adj.省的，地方的；n．外省人，乡下人

参考例句：

• City dwellers think country folk have provincial attitudes.城里人以为乡下人思想迂腐。
• Two leading cadres came down from the provincial capital yesterday.昨天从省里下来了两位领导干部。

5 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

6 precarious   

adj.不安定的，靠不住的；根据不足的

参考例句：

• Our financial situation had become precarious.我们的财务状况已变得不稳定了。
• He earned a precarious living as an artist.作为一个艺术家，他过得是朝不保夕的生活。

7 limestone   

n.石灰石

参考例句：

• Limestone is often used in building construction.石灰岩常用于建筑。
• Cement is made from limestone.水泥是由石灰石制成的。

8 unprecedented   

adj.无前例的，新奇的

参考例句：

• The air crash caused an unprecedented number of deaths.这次空难的死亡人数是空前的。
• A flood of this sort is really unprecedented.这样大的洪水真是十年九不遇。

9 structural   

adj.构造的，组织的，建筑（用）的

参考例句：

• The storm caused no structural damage.风暴没有造成建筑结构方面的破坏。
• The North American continent is made up of three great structural entities.北美大陆是由三个构造单元组成的。

10 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。