Nineteen miners were found dead Monday in the Chaidaer mine in northwest China’s Qinghai province. The victims were found stranded underground after the vault collapsed on August 14. A survivor and a dead man had been brought to the surface a few days after the tragedy, but the rescuers had not been able to find the other minors before this beginning of the week.
“Since early Monday morning, the relief operations have essentially ended. The 19 stranded people were all found during the search, none of them showed vital signs, ”state television CCTV reported, citing the rescue team.
Frequent accidents
More than a thousand people took part in the operations which lasted almost 30 days, working in grueling conditions at an altitude of over 3,800 meters. The mine is indeed located on the vast high altitude plateau of Ginghai-Tibet, often nicknamed the “roof of the world”.
Accidents are common in Chinese mines, where safety standards and regulations are poorly observed. In January, 11 miners were rescued from a collapsed mine in eastern Shandong province after spending two weeks stranded hundreds of meters underground. An explosion at a gold mine in the same province killed 10 people in February.