王家岭煤矿115名遇险矿工获救
【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.
【中文译文】
王家岭煤矿115名遇险矿工获救
救援团队已救出115名在煤矿透水事故中被困一个多星期的矿工。这些矿工把自己绑在井壁上以避免在睡着时溺水，并靠吃木头柱子上的树皮充饥，因此而得以生还。
面向全国转播的电视镜头显示，当这些一身乌黑的矿工被抬出地面时，救援人员痛哭流涕。矿工们是在3月28日（周日）被困的，地点位于中国产煤大省山西的王家岭煤矿。他们被抬出来时，一些人赤着脚，其他人的眼睛用布罩遮住，防止他们在漆黑之中呆了多日后受到光线的伤害。
周一夜间，救援人员在努力搜寻据信仍被困在煤矿中的38人。尚未报告有人死亡。
官方媒体新华社报道，国家安全生产监督管理总局局长骆琳在煤矿现场通过电话表示，这是中国矿业救援史上的奇迹。
中国山西王家岭煤矿数十名遇险矿工在被困一个多星期后获救。据中国中央电视台说，可能还会有更多被困井下的矿工生还。从多数指标来看，这都是中国矿业史上最成功的救援。中国煤矿的死亡率在世界上最高，官方数据显示，去年共有2,631人死于煤矿事故。即使这个数字，较2002年的6,995人也算一个巨大的进步。死亡人数下降得益于政府主导的一次安全整顿行动，其中包括关闭成千上万的小型私营煤矿，这类煤矿常常都是非法经营，生产条件很差。
中国的电力有四分之三来自燃煤发电厂，山西又是中国的产煤中心。去年，山西完成了一次有争议的试点清理行动，强迫把小型私营煤矿卖给大型国有集团。此举引起很多人的批评，说这是“国进民退”。
中国煤矿仍旧频发安全事故。周一官方媒体报道，河南一家煤矿发生瓦斯爆炸后，已有28名矿工遇难，16人在井下下落不明。这家煤矿在接近一年前因安全问题被命令关停，但事发前仍在非法生产。去年11月，东北黑龙江省一家大型煤矿也发生瓦斯爆炸，108名矿工遇难。
搜救奇迹发生地王家岭煤矿属于国有，尽管如此，它也存在安全上的违规。上周二，安监总局局长骆琳对这家煤矿提出强烈批评，说管理失误耽误了疏散，并延缓了从煤矿中排水的措施，降低了矿工的生还可能性。电视报道显示，工作人员正在焊接狭长的管道，用于接入井下。
国家安监部门周二的一份报告称，煤矿一次下井人员过多，导致不能迅速疏散。报告还说，发现煤矿渗水之后，管理人员拖了太久的时间才命令井下人员撤离。
官方媒体报道，一周以前的周日下午1点40分，因附近一个废弃矿井被挖透，煤矿中开始有水涌入，此时有261名矿工还在井下。当大水涌来时，有108人撤离，但还有153人落在了后面。
幸存矿工后来对电视记者叙述道，随着水不断涌入，受困矿工沿着V型巷道的斜坡争先跑向高处，另一些人则从水面上游到安全的地方。受困的八天里，他们一些人把衣服撕成条，把自己捆在通道的墙壁上以防落入水中。由于没有食物，一些人便剥支架上的树皮果腹。
地面上，营救人员开始钻井以试图救出受困矿工。希望开始越来越渺茫。但在周五，营救人员听到敲管子的声音。据中国官方媒体报道，营救人员向矿道内输送了氧气和蔗糖以增加幸存者在地下黑暗空间中生存的几率，并向他们喊话以鼓舞他们的士气。
潜水员试图进入井下，但由于光线差且巷道网络复杂，行动受阻。周日，负责在地下从透水段抽水的工人见到V型巷道的另一端有微弱的灯光透出，这再次燃起人们的希望。
周一凌晨，第一批九名幸存矿工升井。稍后，电视开始直播数十名矿工被救出的场景。
一名被救出的27岁幸存者说，能再回到地上太好了。电视画面上能看到矿工乌黑的双手和赤裸的双脚，每有一名矿工升井，营救人员都会鼓掌庆贺。
一名被送往山西铝厂职工医院的45岁幸存者说，我有两个女儿、一个儿子。我得靠挖矿给他们赚钱。山西铝厂职工医院是为此次事故指定的五所当地收治医院之一。大多数幸存者身体状况稳定，他们因体温过低和脱水正在接受治疗和吸氧。
陈永生是一名救援队队长，他周日晚进入透水矿道并在井下呆了17个小时。后来他向中国中央电视台描述了自己见到的场景。他说，受困矿工精神很好，我们一开始看到远处有光透过来，之后便意识到那儿有100多名矿工。
陈永生说井下水面之上只有一米的空间，他和他的队员乘着仅能容纳五人的小船避开井下的设备，绕过通道狭小的夹角，在水流中奋力向前，一次次地把幸存矿工解救出来。
官员称，幸存矿工被困在一个地下的工作平台上。据官方媒体报道，山西省委书记张宝顺说，营救中使用了科学的手段和技术，确保幸存者在地下受困一个星期之后成功获救。
情绪激动的急救队员称这是奇迹性的场面。他们中的一些人曾参加过海地地震和2008年中国四川地震的救援工作。据新华社报道，急救队员魏福生（音）说，这是一个奇迹，我们几天几夜没合眼了，但我们的努力非常值得。
成功营救受困于地下矿工的机会通常十分渺茫。周一的营救显然是一个成功的例子。美国的矿难事件已急剧减少，但在2006年西弗吉尼亚州赛古(Sago)煤矿爆炸事件中，最终13名受困矿工中仅一人生还。
