Wangjialing Mine Disaster: Warnings Ignored
When the incident occurred, 261 workers were located in the mine. Once the people who could escape did so, 153 workers remained trapped within.
Five days later, after pulling out around half of a million gallons of water each day, a sign of life came from the tapping of a pipe. Other signs, including a moving light source, made it obvious that trapped workers were signaling for help. Letters of hope, along with other supplies, were lowered to the survivors.
The rescuers deciphered paths to the workers and began transporting them out of the mine. As of Monday, it is reported that a little over three dozen workers remain unaccounted for with.
According to a New York Times article, 114 of the workers were successfully rescued.
It’s disturbing that Managers of the Wangjialing Mine were warned about dangerous water leaks within the mine just days before the fatal incident. To meet a deadline, the workers were ordered to increase production.
Profits should never hold more importance than human safety, particularly in industries that post a consistent death toll each day. Due to a push for results, hundreds of human lives were and are still at risk.
Can something be done to prevent major disasters like this one?
Read more about this incident here:
Sharon LaFraniere. “Rescue of 114 at Chinese Coal Mine Called ‘Mircacle.’” The New York Times. 5 April 2010.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/06/world/asia/06mine.html?ref=world
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