I don't know if anyone else here has been following the developments of the trapped miners in Shanxi as I have, and it seemed that persistence was rewarded today with the dramatic rescue of nearly 100 miners who had been underground for over a week. Bravo to the rescue teams and their tenacity in not giving those men up. Let's hope they find the others soon too, as time is likely running out for them. More to be done, but nonetheless, a somewhat happier ending for a change. These things usually end very poorly, as China probably has one of the most deadly records for the mining industries in the world. Despite government clamp downs, independent or illegal operators, who usually pay off or are in league with local officials, routinely flout safety regulations. In this incident, Chinese authorities have reported that mine operators had ignored several earlier warning signs of flood risk. Instead of stopping operations, they doubled digging hours from eight to sixteen, refusing to let the miners return to the surface until they put in the extra hours. -rockon to the Chinese miners. Let's hope they jail those bastard bosses that continue to use Chinese workers like chattel.
