Dramatic and desperate race against time to reach a dozen trapped miners found alive a week after a blast at their gold mine in #Shandong Province. Initially the accident wasn't reported for 30 hours meaning rescue teams lost precious time to start their attempt to reach them...

Qixia City Party Secretary and Mayor both sacked because of the delay in reporting the accident. Days later rescuers, finally trying to find the workers, heard tapping. They drilled a long, thin, communication tunnel to where a dozen miners were found alive...[cont]

Back came a written note from the miners: "Don't stop trying to reach us". They asked for medicine, including pain killers and anti-inflammatory drugs as well as medical tape for the injured and reported "a high level of underground water".

TV images here have shown food packets being fed down the long communication tube like a thread with each attached to a wire.

The 12 trapped miners who are still alive said in their note that 10 of their colleagues colleagues who'd been underground at the time of the blast were missing.

Rescuers say they have now managed to speak to the 12 miners who've been trapped for over a week in #China's #Shandong Province via a phone link.

Trapped miners update: water at dangerous levels; officials thinking of trying to use submersible pumps to try to clear some of it. A phone link with the workers below has brought more details. They had contact with another colleague stuck 50 metres below them but not any more...

More trapped miners Tuesday: Via a long, thin, communication tunnel nutritional liquids, porridge and medicine have been delivered. Workers were thankful adding that what they'd really like are some pork sausages.

Trapped miners Tuesday cont: Rock around the ore body mostly hard granite making it tough to cut through quickly, officials say. They've dug 6 thin tunnels, 2 more to come. One of these said to have reached 40 metres from the miners but they had to stop for safety reasons.

Trapped miners Tues cont: They seem to be trying different approaches to the trapped miners with the hope that one tunnel option will work. The strategy appears to involve first punching through as far as possible then widening the tunnel out later.

Trapped miners tunnels: rescue teams are now drilling 8 separate tunnels to reach the miners who’ve been trapped underground in #Shandong eastern #China for more than a week. Officials say 2 of these tunnels will be used to pump out the underground water which has been rising.

Crucially, if they can successfully pump out some of that rising water, it'll give them more time to punch through a tunnel big enough to get the survivors out.

According to Chinese state media report, rescuers have just spoken to the trapped miners again. 8 are in a pretty good condition; 2 are experiencing some discomfort from injuries and one with a serious head injury has gone into a coma. It's going to be very tough to get him out.

You'll notice that this only adds up to 11 miners. It seems like the 12th miner thought to be alive was the one caught 50 metres below the main group. However they've now lost contact with that worker.

BRW the rescue workers up at that mine are pushing through the night in freezing conditions. You can see them wearing heavy winter coats silently looking up at the drilling machines wishing that they could push through the rock more quickly.

Reports that one of the trapped miners in #Shandong has died.

Looks like the trapped miner who has died was the one who’d been in a coma after suffering head injuries after the underground blast more than a week ago. #Shandong #Chiba

Thursday trapped miners update: number ten tunnel is going to hopefully be the rescue tunnel. They are boring it out wider and digging ever deeper. Yesterday the surviving miners underground were given Laba Congee to eat to mark the festival and hopefully raise their spirits.

URGENT UPDATE THURSDAY: Rescue teams say it is going to take 15 MORE DAYS to dig through the rock to reach the trapped miners.

Rescue teams say it'll take 15 MORE DAYS to dig through the rock to reach the trapped miners. 10 survivors have moved to a safer area with less rising water. 1 died from his head injuries yesterday; they've lost contact with 1 who was caught 50 metres below them; 10 more lost.

Sunday 24th. URGENT: One of the trapped miners has been rescued! He’s not one of the main group of 10. He was found alive in a different section of the gold mine. He’s been trapped for two weeks after the explosion so naturally very weak and was rushed to hospital.

Sunday 24th. Dramatic footage of the rescued miner reaching the surface. After two weeks underground trapped in a different section to the others, he’s obviously in a very bad way. Hopefully he’ll make it. #China https://twitter.com/xhnews/status/1353195689954537474

Since he was trapped for two weeks in a part of the mine separate from the main group I wonder if that means he has not being receiving food and medicine like the others have been for days now? He could have drunk from the rising underground water to stay alive. Hope he makes it.

URGENT SUNDAY: SEVEN MINERS HAVE BEEN RESCUED!

Urgent Sunday 24th: rescuers say they hope to bring all 10 trapped miners to the surface today. It was going to take 2 weeks to dig a rescue tunnel but somehow a ventilation shaft was cleared meaning they could start dragging up the miners immediately.

ELEVEN MINERS OUT NOW!!!