China is still investigating the mine flood that has trapped 181 people at two pits in the eastern Shandong Province since Friday, and rescue work must come first, a safety official said on Wednesday August 22nd.
"The State Council, or the Chinese cabinet, is yet to set up an investigation team," said Huang Yi, spokesman for the State Administration of Work Safety. "And we have not been able to determine the cause of accident thus far."
Civil Affairs Minister Li Xueju told a press conference in Beijing on Wednesday that preliminary analysis of experts showed the flooding was a "natural disaster".
The significance of the decision is that while relatives of people killed in mining accidents can receive up to 200,000 yuan in compensation, the country has no compensation system for victims of natural disasters.
However, in an exclusive interview with the Xinhua News Agency earlier yesterday, Huang expressed disapproval of media reports that blamed the flooding on either a natural disaster or human error, saying the work safety administration had not made such a statement.
"The top priority at the moment is to speed up the rescue work and do whatever we can for those trapped," he said.
Rescuers began their fifth day at the collieries on Wednesday after flood water swept through a 65-meter wide breach in the Wenhe River levee, inundating the Huayuan and Minggong mines, about 150 km south of Shandong's provincial capital Jinan, last Friday afternoon.
By 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, the water level at Huayuan Mine where 172 miners are trapped had fallen by 26.01 meters to 66.59 meters, meaning there was still a 96-meter depth of water to the nearest working site estimated to have trapped miners.
One more powerful pump became operational at around midday, bringing the drainage capacity to more than 1,500 cubic meters per hour, doubling the previous capacity.
Meanwhile, another pump with a drainage capacity of 600 cubic meters per hour, which was put into operation Wednesday afternoon but soon halted due to a broken pipe, resumed pumping around 8:00 p.m., according to the rescue headquarters.
In addition, two of the four drilling sets, called in from the Shengli Oilfield on Monday, began to drill wells to divert water from the flooded shafts. They had dug 119 meters deep, almost one-third of the 385-meter target.
Around 120 cubic meters of water can be pulled out via each well per hour, the headquarters said.
The rescue headquarters are waiting for more powerful drilling machines to speed up the operation.
Another water pump with a capacity of 600 cubic meters per hour has been put into operation from later time Wednesday night, the rescuers said.
Eighty-five relatives of the trapped miners have fallen sick because of grief and are receiving treatment in hospital, Huang Longhua, an official with the rescue headquarters tasked with consoling families of the victims, said.
The government has dispatched 134 medical workers to take care of sick relatives, he said, adding that all are in a stable condition.
Managers at the Huayuan Mine have also sent 545 employees to console the families of the trapped miners.
Water resources specialists have blamed the disaster largely on heavy rain and inadequate flood-prevention facilities.
The government is still doubling its efforts to rescue the victims though experts said on Tuesday that hope for the miners was dimming, as it would take about 100 days to drain the water if 5,000 cu m were pumped out every hour.
(Based on resources from Xinhua)
