Half of the miners trapped in China's Hushan mine were rescued on Sunday morning after 14 days trapped underground, Chinese state-owned media has reported.
Rescuers moving to rescue the trapped miners. Credit: Xinhua
22 workers were trapped in the gold mine Shandong Wucailong Investment, a subsidiary of Chinese gold giant Zhaojin Mining, on January 10 following an explosion.
It was previously reported they may have to wait up to 15 days for rescue owing to blockages in their intended escape route.
Read more: Hushan mine's trapped workers must wait 15 days for rescue
State-owned news outlet Xinhua reported that the first miner, who was rescued at 11:13 am local time was in "extremely weak condition," while CCTV reports he was immediately sent to a hospital to recover from the ordeal.
Over the next few hours, ten other miners were rescued from a different section of the mine. They had been receiving food and medical supplies from an emergency shaft from rescue workers last week.
Officials have confirmed it may take another ten days to drill a rescue shaft through a blockage to rescue the other ten.
State-owned media confirmed towards the end of last week that one of the miners is confirmed to have died.
Xiao Wenru, the chief engineer at the rescue centre, told Xinhua: “We made a breakthrough this morning. After clearing these broken, powdery pieces, we found that there were cavities underneath. Our progress accelerated.”
Concern has been raised over the remaining miners, who have yet to contact the surface. Some of the workers are helping to locate their missing colleagues by using laser pointers and loudspeakers, but have yet to get a response.
Chen Fei, mayor of Yantai, also told Xinhua: "We will not stop searching for the missing miner. The rescue work has become extremely difficult owing to underground water levels rising."
One of the men brought to the surface was noticeably injured, but several were shown to be walking normally, supported by rescue workers.
The global mining sector has been embroiled in a number of high-profile scandals over the past few years.
Anglo-American is currently facing a class-action lawsuit over lead poisoning attributed to one of their abandoned mines in Zambia
Read more: Anglo American face class-action lawsuit over Zambia lead poisoning
The bulk of the waste is centred around the town of Kabwe and has led to a number of health issues, particularly among women and children.
Rio Tinto is also facing a class-action lawsuit and humanitarian crisis over an abandoned copper and gold mine polluting the local ecosystem. The mine's pollution was directly responsible for a local civil war, which resulted in Bougainville, where the mine is located, seceding from Papua New Guinea.
They are also facing pressure from the Mongolian government over a mine extension, which has resulted in the government to threaten to pull the plug on the entire operation unless Tinto resolves the dispute.
There is also the Jukaan Gorge scandal - the destruction of a 46,000-year-old cave system sacred to the local aborigine population - which resulted in the letting go of their former CEO and promoted an Australian senate inquiry.
Read more: Rio Tinto CEO quits following Jukaan Gorge controversy
Chinese mines are among the most dangerous in the world.
A 2020 study by the National Mine Safety Administration (NMSA) recorded 573 mine-related deaths in 2020 alone.
China has long been criticised over various human rights abuses and poor record on worker's rights.
Independent trade unions are illegal in the country, although workers are technically permitted the right to a 40-hour workweek with overtime.
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