Rescue workers pulled 19 more miners from a flooded coal mine in northeast China on Tuesday. They men had been trapped in the mine, which was operating illegally, since August 23. The Xinhua news agency reports the Hengtai coal mine in Heilongjiang Province flooded last Tuesday when the miners accidentally drilled into a neighboring mine that was filled with water.
Forty-five men were underground at the time of the flooding. Nineteen miners were able to escape and three were rescued on Saturday. The body of a miner was recovered on Sunday. Tuesday’s rescue ended search operations as all 45 miners have been accounted for. Rescue workers had worked around the clock pumping water from the mine and sending relief supplies to the men.
The Hengtai Coal Mine was closed in 2007, but reopened illegally earlier this month.
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