JINAN, Jan. 20 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers said Wednesday that the previously comatose miner no longer showed any vital signs, as the rescue mission continued for the 21 other workers trapped in a gold mine in east China.
Twenty-two miners have been trapped about 600 meters underground following a mine blast on Jan. 10 in Qixia under the city of Yantai, Shandong Province. Twelve of them were found alive on Sunday through a drilled channel, though one later lost contact, and rescuers are still working to save them.
The rescue headquarters at the site said the dead miner suffered severe head injuries during the explosion and later fell into a coma. Medical personnel managed to deliver medicines to other miners and instructed them to offer treatment, but his condition did not improve.
Among the other ten workers in contact with rescuers, eight were reportedly in good condition, and two were slightly indisposed.
Rescuers have used a narrow channel for food and medicine deliveries to the miners, and a wired telephone was also installed underground through the channel. As Wednesday marked the Laba Festival, considered a prelude to the Chinese Lunar New Year, rescuers delivered specially made congee, representing the Laba Congee, to the miners.
They had also been lowering life detectors and nutrient solutions to other sections to locate the other missing miners but continued to receive no life signs. Enditem
