Three days after 14 construction workers were trapped in a water-leaking tunnel in Zhuhai, South China’s Guangdong Province, the rescue team has advanced 598.5 meters into the tunnel, but still 561.5 meters away from the trapped people, said a Zhuhai government official.
The overall water level in the tunnel has dropped by 11.3 meters. Professional diving teams have been sent, but no trapped workers have been found yet, said Zhang Yisheng, vice mayor of Zhuhai, at a press conference on Sunday.
To push forward the rescue process as fast as possible, Zhang said the rescue team has been draining the water from the tunnel while filling and sealing the leakage points on the tunnel roof.
10 sets of 14 drainage equipment have been relayed to pump out the water from the tunnel. Meanwhile 686.9 cubic meters of grouting volume have been completed accumulatively as of 9 am Sunday. The sealing of the points that were leaking has already finished.
Efforts have also been made in pumping up the reservoir, from where the reportedly initially poured into the collapsed tunnel. More than 253,000 cubic meters of water have been drained off by 51 machines, said Lu Xiaobo, head of Zhuhai Water Administration, at the press conference.
Though the decrease in the water level of the reservoir has strongly supported the rescue work, challenges still remain in pushing it forward, said Lu.
The operation of the drainage equipment is restricted by a complicated terrain inside the reservoir, and the sudden drop of water level in the reservoir also affects the safe operation of the dam, he said, noting that the continuous rainfall expected to come in the next few days in Zhuhai will not be helpful with the drainage process of the reservoir.
Since the incident occurred at 3:30 am on Thursday, 14 construction workers have been trapped in the tunnel, which is 1,160 meters away from its opening, for more than 80 hours.
The rescue team has advanced 598.5 meters into the tunnel as of Sunday morning, moving forward at an average rate of around 100 meters in the past two days. However, they have advanced only half way, with 561.5 meters left to go to reach the trapped people.
Seven professional diving teams have been employed for search and rescue. 25 frogmen, two underwater robots and seven unmanned ships have been dispatched, and the total underwater search time has exceeded 20 hours.
While engaging in the rescue work, experts onsite are also closely monitoring the concentration of carbon monoxide in the tunnel and strengthening ventilation to prevent the occurrence of secondary disasters, Zhang said.
Rescue inside tunnel Photo: Screenshot of a video posted by The Beijing News
