Two Chinese miners who were given up for dead after a tunnel collapse dug their way to the surface on a six-day diet of coal nuggets and urine, a local newspaper reported on Wednesday.
In the latest example of the dire safety standards in Chinese mines, brothers Meng Xianchen and Meng Xianyou emerged exhausted and starving — but unscathed — from an illegal colliery on Friday, four days after rescue efforts had been called off.
The Beijing News showed a picture of the survivors holding hands in hospital gowns in the Fangshan district of Beijing. They appeared unharmed, but doctors said the brothers had suffered kidney damage because of the prolonged lack of water.
Relatives and workmates were astonished to see them. Last week, their families had begun burning ”ghost money” — a tradition aimed at giving the deceased something to spend in the afterlife.
Mining engineers had declared there was no possibility the brothers could have survived and that more lives might be lost in a dangerous rescue operation.
Xianyou told the Beijing News that the two men were devastated when they heard the digging stop above them, but they maintained their spirits with jokes about who their wives would marry after they die.
Despite 20 years of mining experience, they were confused about directions in the pitch-black mine. They mistakenly dug three horizontal tunnels, before starting the sharply inclining 20m tunnel that eventually took them to the surface.
”At first we didn’t notice the lack of food, but then I was so hungry I couldn’t crawl any more,” Xianchen told the paper. ”I got so hungry, I ate a piece of coal, and I thought it tasted delicious.”
He said the taste was bitter, but they were able to chew nuggets the size of a finger. They collected urine in water bottles. ”You can only take small sips, and when you’ve finished, you just want to cry.” They did not defecate for six days, the paper said. ”We only did that in hospital and it was full of coal.”
Dependent on coal for about 70% of the country’s energy, China has the world’s deadliest mines. Owners have huge financial incentives to ramp up production and despite concerns about safety, the government’s priority is fuel for the fast growing economy. Thousands of accidents occur every year.
One of the worst occurred earlier this month, when 181 miners were trapped in two flooded coal mines in Shandong Province. Rescuers said they have not given up hope, but officials have already begun distributing compensation to the families. Some have been involved in violent protests because they accuse the mine operators of ignoring flood warnings that prompted neighbouring collieries to close. — Guardian Unlimited Â