JINAN, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Rescuers said Friday that they have provided lighting equipment to 10 workers trapped in a gold mine in east China, as the search-and-rescue mission continues for the other missing workers.
Twenty-two miners have been trapped about 600 meters underground since a mine blast on Jan. 10 in Qixia, under the city of Yantai, in Shandong Province.
So far, rescuers have established contact with only 10 of the miners, who are in good physical and psychological condition. Another is believed to be dead.
Rescue headquarters at the site said they are still digging into the blocked mine shaft with a 711-millimeter diameter bit, in an effort to set up an escape route for the 10 miners.
Yet the effort has been hampered by the depth of the mine and heavy blockages in the shaft caused by the blast.
The headquarters said Thursday that it could take at least 15 days to dig through the blocked shaft.
Rescuers have continued to lower life detectors and nutrient solutions into other sections of the mine in search of the missing 11 miners, but still have not encountered any signs of life.