A total of 35 risk-prone mines will undergo strenuous on-site inspections before the year s end, as part of efforts to prevent cave-ins, the industry ministry said Wednesday. The 35 among 325 mines nationwide are where deaths and serious injuries of workers have been reported within the last three years.
Park Jeong-ha, 62, one of the two miners who survived 10 days trapped underground until helping hands miraculously arrived, has 25 years of experience working in the profession. One life-saving tip he remembered from a survival manual, in the event of a tunnel collapse, was not to stay helplessly in one place after becoming trapped but to salvage what is available and prepare a shelter to minimize the danger.
Two miners trapped for more than nine days in a collapsed zinc mine in southeastern South Korea walked out alive Friday, authorities said, a miraculous ending to rescue efforts tha.