:quality(85)//cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/infobae/MRLDVPFOQZHNNNTIHDDMGFUZMY.jpg "Rescue of trapped miners in China could take more than 15 days")
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Shanghai (China), Jan 22- The rescue of workers trapped since last day 10 after an explosion in a gold mine under construction in China could take more than two weeks, the time that rescue teams believe they will need to drill a well to extract the survivors.
According to the official press, some 18 meters have already been reached in the drilling tasks – the survivors are at a depth of 600 meters – which are carried out with a huge drill bit 71.1 centimeters in diameter.
However, experts believe that at a depth of between 350 and 446 meters in the well there is “a blockage” of about 1,300 cubic meters and 70 tons, which adds to the jumble of cables, pipes and ventilation ducts left by the outbreak and the risks of underground flooding.
The latest estimates are that the drilling of the main rescue channel will take 15 days or more.
A total of 22 miners were trapped twelve days ago after the explosion at this under construction complex in eastern Shandong province, of which 10 are still alive and communicating with rescuers; another would be found in another gallery but without communication, and at the moment another ten remain missing.
The eleventh person from the group of reported survivors has been left for dead after ceasing to show vital signs days after being unconscious due to the injuries that the explosion had caused to the head.
The authorities have sent telephones, blankets and food equivalent to 2,200 kilocalories a day through various channels and, although the condition of eight of them has improved, the other two manifest physical discomfort.
Until yesterday, 17 rescue teams and another fire department had been deployed, with a total of 629 people and more than 400 machines involved in the tasks.