Posted on 12/11/2007 3:37:36 AM PST by JACKRUSSELL
(BEIJING) — Miners trapped for nearly a week in a collapsed mine in northern China ate a leather belt and paper to stay alive, state media reported Monday.
Eleven men told their story after they were rescued Sunday from a collapsed iron and gold mine in Chengde, north of Beijing, where they had been trapped, the official Beijing News reported.
Their rescue and survival follows a similar case in August in which two brothers, Meng Xianchen and Meng Xianyou, became mini-celebrities after they recounted how they clawed their way to the surface after nearly six days trapped in a collapsed coal mine.
All 11 were in stable condition and were able to walk out with the help of rescuers.
The first miner rescued, Wu Pengyong, 33, recounted how they drank dirty mine water and ate paper and orange peels to survive as they waited in the dark, according to the Beijing News.
"Later, we got really hungry and it was lucky I had a leather belt. I boiled it but it wouldn't cook, so I divided the half-cooked belt and gave it to everyone to eat," Wu was quoted as saying.
After giving up hope of a rescue, they heard the sound of a digging machine outside.
"We are really grateful for the rescuers for saving us," a second miner, Bai Guoxin, told the newspaper.
The accident happened Monday afternoon, but the mine owner delayed reporting it to local authorities until Thursday. Mine owners routinely attempt to hide accidents from authorities to avoid being fined or shut down.
A similar delay is blamed for the high death toll in a mine explosion in northern China last week which killed 105 people. Operators reportedly waited more than five hours before calling in outside rescuers.
Great news they're OK. The bad news is that they can go home and eat a real meal of paper and leather with gravy this time.
In any event, I've eaten weirder things.
Why is there no outcry from the media-left?
And an hour later they were hungry again.
I don’t know how hungry I’d have to be to eat a belt, but it would take a lot longer than a week. I’ve gone without food for a week before (during youthful misguided attempts to diet) and what I found was that after a couple of days without food, I didn’t feel bad and wasn’t really hungry. I’d think a belt would make you feel worse as you struggled unsuccessfully to digest it.
Belts are very high in trans fat.
My thoughts too. You need far more than a week without food to die, unless you’re already a probably half starved Chinese person.
It really depends on how many calories you are expending. Considering the average American is mostly sedentary for almost the entire day, you may only be expending 1500 or so calories per day. Being trapped at the bottom of a mine and trying to shovel/pickaxe your way out, you may be spending over 5000 calories per day. There is a big difference between going hungry while on your bum watching tv and going hungry while using up a lot of energy working.
If I was trapped in a Chinese coal mine I’d want to take a belt too, just not a leather one.
Didn’t a JAP eat a US President a few years back?
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