All of the 69 miners who were hospitalized immediately after
they were rescued on Wednesday from a flooded coal mine in Henan Province have recovered and left for
home.
The last two miners who were allowed to leave early on Saturday
after further observation were identified as Zhang Qunguan and Yuan
Hongjun, both natives from Shanxian, a county on the middle reaches
of the Yellow River.
Late on Friday, 67 of the hospitalized miners were discharged
from the hospitals, said an official in charge of publicity with
Shanxian County government of Henan Province, where the flooded
coal mine is located.
The miners have been told to be recuperating at home for two
more months, with a guarantee saying each of them will get 2,000
yuan of salary together with 500 yuan for nutrition per month. In
addition, all 69 miners had been given 500 yuan of compensation by
the Henan Provincial Federation of Trade Unions and Sanmenxia City
Federation of Trade Unions before their discharge from
hospital.
The flooding occurred at around 8:40 AM Sunday at the Zhijian
coal mine in Shanxian County, about 200 km west of Zhengzhou, the
provincial capital of Henan, when 102 miners were working
underground. Only 33 miners managed to escape.
All the 69 miners were rescued early Wednesday afternoon after
they were trapped inside a flooded coal mine for more than three
days.
(Xinhua News Agency August 4, 2007)
