Advertisement
China society
China

3 dead as southern China tunnel flood rescue effort reaches 6th day

  • Rescuers are still about 300 metres from where the remaining 11 construction workers are believed to be trapped
  • Geological conditions are hampering the rescue operation after most of the water was pumped from the tunnel

Reading Time:2 minutes
Why you can trust SCMP
At least three men have died and 11 are still missing as rescue workers continue to search a tunnel which flooded during construction on Thursday in Zhuhai, in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong. Photo: Handout
Maryann Xue
At least three of the 14 construction workers trapped for nearly a week in a flooded tunnel in southern China have died, as nearly 2,000 rescuers continue their desperate attempt to reach the remaining men.
Advertisement

Two of the dead were found on Monday afternoon, according to the local government of Zhuhai in Guangdong province, with the third discovered later.

The workers were more than a kilometre (0.62 miles) from the entrance to the Shijinshan tunnel – under construction as part of a major expressway linking the city to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge – when it was inundated at around 3.30am on Thursday.
The trapped construction workers were more than a kilometre from the entrance to the tunnel – part of an expressway linking to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge – when it was inundated on Thursday. Photo: AP
The trapped construction workers were more than a kilometre from the entrance to the tunnel – part of an expressway linking to the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macau Bridge – when it was inundated on Thursday. Photo: AP

“We are fighting for every second to save them,” Zhuhai mayor Huang Zhihao said on Tuesday. While the rescuers had advanced more than 850 metres, they were still about 300 metres from where the workers were believed to be trapped, he said.

Advertisement

Most of the water was pumped from the tunnel, which runs under a reservoir, in the early stage of the rescue by the teams which have been drawn from Zhuhai and surrounding districts.

Advertisement