王家嶺煤礦115名遇險礦工獲救
【英文原文】
Rescue Teams Pull 115 Miners To Safety From Shanxi Province Mine
Rescue teams pulled to safety 115 miners who had been trapped in a flooded coal mine for more than a week and who survived by strapping themselves to the walls to avoid drowning in their sleep and eating bark from wooden support beams.
In scenes televised nationwide, rescuers cried as the soot-covered men - stuck underground since Sunday, March 28 - were brought out, some barefoot and others with cloth-covered eyes to protect them from the light after days in pitch dark of the Wangjialing Coal Mine in Shanxi Province, the heart of China's coal country.
On Monday night, crews were trying to reach 38 people believed to be still trapped in the mine. No deaths had been reported.
'It is a miracle in China's mining rescue history,' said Luo Lin, head of China's State Administration of Work Safety, speaking by phone from the mine site, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
By most measures, this is the most successful rescue ever in China's mining industry, which with 2,631 deaths last year is the deadliest in the world. Even that figure is a big improvement over the 6,995 people who died in 2002, according to government data. The falling casualty toll is the result of a government-led safety crackdown, which has involved shutting down thousands of small, privately owned coal mines that were often illegal and poorly run.
Shanxi, the center of production for the coal that supplies three-quarters of China's power, finished a controversial pilot cleanup campaign last year that forced the sale of smaller and privately owned mines to bigger state-owned groups in a move that drew criticism from many who saw it as a power grab by the state sector against private entrepreneurs.
Safety lapses continue to plague China's coal mines. On Monday, state media reported that 28 miners had died and another 16 remained missing underground after a gas explosion at a coal mine in Henan province that had illegally remained in operation after being ordered shut down nearly a year ago because of safety concerns. In November, 108 miners were killed in another gas explosion in a large mine in Heilongjiang province in northeastern China.
Even at the state-owned Wangjialing mine, scene of the startling rescue, there had been safety violations. Last Tuesday, Luo, the head of worker safety, sharply criticized the mine, saying that mismanagement had delayed the evacuation and slowed efforts to drain water from the mine, worsening chances for survival. Television reports showed workers welding narrow pipes to be threaded down the shaft.
A report Tuesday by state safety regulators said the mine was crammed with too many work crews at one time, preventing a rapid evacuation. It also said managers waited too long after the discovery that water was leaking into the mine to order the men out.
According to state media, water started flooding into the mine a week ago Sunday at 1:40 p.m. after the wall in an adjacent abandoned mine shaft was breached while 261 miners were underground. As the water rushed in, 108 escaped, but 153 remained behind.
As the water poured in, the trapped miners scrambled for higher ground, up the incline of the v-shaped shaft, survivors later told television reporters. Others floated up to the top of the tunnel and then guided themselves to safety, while some ripped their clothing into strips they used to tie themselves to the shaft wall to keep from falling into the water for the eight days they were trapped. With nothing to eat, some resorted to eating bark they had ripped off support beams.
Above ground, rescuers started drilling in an effort to reach the trapped miners. Hope was starting to fade until Friday, when rescuers heard the sound of knocking on pipes. Oxygen was pumped in and packets of sucrose sent down to the increase chances of survival in the subterranean gloom, along with letters of hope to boost moral, according to state media.
Divers tried to enter the mineshaft but were deterred by the dark and complex network of tunnels. On Sunday, underground workers draining water from the flooded section saw swaying lamplight at the other end of the flooded v-shaped shaft, raising hope again.
Then shortly after midnight Monday morning, the first nine survivors were hauled out alive. Later Monday, television began broadcasting live as dozens more were brought out.
'How fantastic to be up above ground again,' said a 27-year-old survivor who was brought up. Sooty hands and bare feet could be seen in the televised images as rescuers applauded as each worker was brought up.
'I have two daughters and a son. I had to do mining work to earn money for them,' said a 45-year-old survivor taken to the Shanxi Aluminium Plant Hospital, one of five local hospitals admitting people from the accident. Most survivors were in stable condition, receiving treatment for hypothermia and dehydration and were getting oxygen.
One rescue team leader, Chen Yongsheng, who reached the water-blocked shaft Sunday night and stayed below for 17 hours, later described what he saw to CCTV. He said the trapped miners were in good spirits. 'We first saw some lights in the distance,' he said, 'and then we realized that there more than 100 miners there.'
Navigating around equipment, the shaft's sharp angle and struggling against the flowing water, Chen said his crew ferried out survivors in boats that could only seat five at a time through the meter-high space
The miners who survived were stuck on a work platform underground, officials said. 'Scientific methods and technology used in the rescue have ensured the survivors rescued alive after being trapped underground for a week,' said the head of Shanxi's Communist Party, Zhang Baoshun, according to state media.
Emotional emergency crews, some of whom had previous experience working in the Haiti earthquake and China's own devastating 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, described the scene as miraculous. 'It is a miracle. It is all worth our efforts without sleep for several days,' said Wei Fusheng, an emergency worker, according to Xinhua.
Monday's rescue appears to have beaten the usually long odds in rescuing miners trapped underground. Mining fatalities in the U.S. have fallen sharply, but only one of 13 miners was rescued after an explosion in 2006 at a mine in Sago, West Virginia.
【中文譯文】
王家嶺煤礦115名遇險礦工獲救
救援團隊已救出115名在煤礦透水事故中被困一個多星期的礦工。這些礦工把自己綁在井壁上以避免在睡着時溺水，並靠吃木頭柱子上的樹皮充飢，因此而得以生還。
面向全國轉播的電視鏡頭顯示，當這些一身烏黑的礦工被擡出地面時，救援人員痛哭流涕。礦工們是在3月28日（週日）被困的，地點位於中國產煤大省山西的王家嶺煤礦。他們被擡出來時，一些人赤着腳，其他人的眼睛用布罩遮住，防止他們在漆黑之中呆了多日後受到光線的傷害。
週一夜間，救援人員在努力搜尋據信仍被困在煤礦中的38人。尚未報告有人死亡。
官方媒體新華社報道，國家安全生產監督管理總局局長駱琳在煤礦現場通過電話表示，這是中國礦業救援史上的奇蹟。
中國山西王家嶺煤礦數十名遇險礦工在被困一個多星期後獲救。據中國中央電視臺說，可能還會有更多被困井下的礦工生還。從多數指標來看，這都是中國礦業史上最成功的救援。中國煤礦的死亡率在世界上最高，官方數據顯示，去年共有2,631人死於煤礦事故。即使這個數字，較2002年的6,995人也算一個巨大的進步。死亡人數下降得益於政府主導的一次安全整頓行動，其中包括關閉成千上萬的小型私營煤礦，這類煤礦常常都是非法經營，生產條件很差。
中國的電力有四分之三來自燃煤發電廠，山西又是中國的產煤中心。去年，山西完成了一次有爭議的試點清理行動，強迫把小型私營煤礦賣給大型國有集團。此舉引起很多人的批評，說這是“國進民退”。
中國煤礦仍舊頻發安全事故。週一官方媒體報道，河南一家煤礦發生瓦斯爆炸後，已有28名礦工遇難，16人在井下下落不明。這家煤礦在接近一年前因安全問題被命令關停，但事發前仍在非法生產。去年11月，東北黑龍江省一家大型煤礦也發生瓦斯爆炸，108名礦工遇難。
搜救奇蹟發生地王家嶺煤礦屬於國有，儘管如此，它也存在安全上的違規。上週二，安監總局局長駱琳對這家煤礦提出強烈批評，說管理失誤耽誤了疏散，並延緩了從煤礦中排水的措施，降低了礦工的生還可能性。電視報道顯示，工作人員正在焊接狹長的管道，用於接入井下。
國家安監部門週二的一份報告稱，煤礦一次下井人員過多，導致不能迅速疏散。報告還說，發現煤礦滲水之後，管理人員拖了太久的時間才命令井下人員撤離。
官方媒體報道，一週以前的週日下午1點40分，因附近一個廢棄礦井被挖透，煤礦中開始有水涌入，此時有261名礦工還在井下。當大水涌來時，有108人撤離，但還有153人落在了後面。
倖存礦工後來對電視記者敘述道，隨着水不斷涌入，受困礦工沿着V型巷道的斜坡爭先跑向高處，另一些人則從水面上游到安全的地方。受困的八天裏，他們一些人把衣服撕成條，把自己捆在通道的牆壁上以防落入水中。由於沒有食物，一些人便剝支架上的樹皮果腹。
地面上，營救人員開始鑽井以試圖救出受困礦工。希望開始越來越渺茫。但在週五，營救人員聽到敲管子的聲音。據中國官方媒體報道，營救人員向礦道內輸送了氧氣和蔗糖以增加倖存者在地下黑暗空間中生存的機率，並向他們喊話以鼓舞他們的士氣。
潛水員試圖進入井下，但由於光線差且巷道網絡複雜，行動受阻。週日，負責在地下從透水段抽水的工人見到V型巷道的另一端有微弱的燈光透出，這再次燃起人們的希望。
週一凌晨，第一批九名倖存礦工升井。稍後，電視開始直播數十名礦工被救出的場景。
一名被救出的27歲倖存者說，能再回到地上太好了。電視畫面上能看到礦工烏黑的雙手和赤裸的雙腳，每有一名礦工升井，營救人員都會鼓掌慶賀。
一名被送往山西鋁廠職工醫院的45歲倖存者說，我有兩個女兒、一個兒子。我得靠挖礦給他們賺錢。山西鋁廠職工醫院是爲此次事故指定的五所當地收治醫院之一。大多數倖存者身體狀況穩定，他們因體溫過低和脫水正在接受治療和吸氧。
陳永生是一名救援隊隊長，他週日晚進入透水礦道並在井下呆了17個小時。後來他向中國中央電視臺描述了自己見到的場景。他說，受困礦工精神很好，我們一開始看到遠處有光透過來，之後便意識到那兒有100多名礦工。
陳永生說井下水面之上只有一米的空間，他和他的隊員乘着僅能容納五人的小船避開井下的設備，繞過通道狹小的夾角，在水流中奮力向前，一次次地把倖存礦工解救出來。
官員稱，倖存礦工被困在一個地下的工作平臺上。據官方媒體報道，山西省委書記張寶順說，營救中使用了科學的手段和技術，確保倖存者在地下受困一個星期之後成功獲救。
情緒激動的急救隊員稱這是奇蹟性的場面。他們中的一些人曾參加過海地地震和2008年中國四川地震的救援工作。據新華社報道，急救隊員魏福生（音）說，這是一個奇蹟，我們幾天幾夜沒閤眼了，但我們的努力非常值得。
成功營救受困於地下礦工的機會通常十分渺茫。週一的營救顯然是一個成功的例子。美國的礦難事件已急劇減少，但在2006年西弗吉尼亞州賽古(Sago)煤礦爆炸事件中，最終13名受困礦工中僅一人生還。
