Optic fiber scope used to find 2 trapped in zinc mine

Rescue workers search for two miners trapped underground for nine days on Thursday after a zinc mine in Bongwha county in North Gyegonsang collapsed on Oct. 26. [NEWS1]

Rescue workers used fiber optic cable to search for two miners trapped underground in a zinc mine in Bongwha county, North Gyeongsang, for nine days on Thursday morning.

According to Gyeongbuk Fire Service Headquarters, rescue workers started investigating underground with the scope at 7:13 a.m. on Thursday, after locating an open space underground around 5 a.m. the same day.

Drilling machines with a diameter of 76 millimeters (3 inches) were used to locate open space. A sound detection device was also used for the rescue.

“Two drilling machines with diameters of 76 millimeters reached 170 meters underground,” said a spokesperson from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, during a briefing on Thursday morning.

“We used a scope to search for the trapped miners but couldn’t find them. There was no response.”

As of 10 a.m. Thursday, the two miners have still not been found.

Rescue workers kept repeating, “If you see the light please shout,” and “If you can’t shout please tap the floor or the wall with a rock.”

The two miners have been trapped underground since Oct. 26, after the zinc mine in the county of Bongwha, 244 kilometers southeast of Seoul, collapsed. The accident was believed to have been caused by 300 to 900 tons of soil falling into a vertical shaft at the mine.

It is estimated that the two miners are isolated 190 meters (623 feet) underground.

The mine collapsed at around 6 p.m. on Oct. 26. Of the seven, two came out around 8 p.m. by themselves, while three were rescued by the mining company around 11 p.m. the same day.

As the other two miners were not located, the company reported to the 119 emergency hotline a day after at around 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 27.

Family members of the trapped miners say that the rescue is taking longer as the company reported the accident 14 hours after the mine collapsed.

A total of ten drilling machines have been used for the rescue, with two more to be added.

The rescue workers said they will be adding another scope to search for the miners.

Around 165 meters of entry path of the mine that could be drilled without the risk of collapse have been secured by the rescue workers as of 8 a.m., according to the local fire department.

BY KIM JUNG-SEOK, CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]