Established 1961 7 Tuesday, January 19, 2021 International Handwritten note seeds hope for trapped gold miners ‘Help us, we’re still alive’: A week after gold mine mishap

BEIJING: At least 12 gold miners trapped hundreds of meters underground in China for more than a week have News in brief sent up a note warning some are injured, water sur- rounds them and they urgently need medicine. Twenty- two workers became trapped more than 600 meters Latvia plans Russian-language ads from the mine’s entrance after a blast eight days ago at the mine near Qixia city in eastern Shandong province. RIGA, Latvia: Latvia’s health minister yesterday After days without any signs of life, rescuers heard said the government would boost a Russian-lan- knocking sounds on Sunday afternoon as they drilled guage information campaign on the safety of vac- through the mine’s shaft. A note was sent up on a line cines in order to improve low vaccination rates. from the depths below saying that at least a dozen of After visiting a hospital in the capital Riga, Daniels the miners were still alive, but pleading for help as their Pavluts said the situation was “very problematic” health and conditions deteriorate. “We are in urgent in Daugavpils, Latvia’s second city which has a need of medicine, painkillers, medical tape, external majority Russian-speaking population. Pavluts anti-inflammatory drugs, and three people have high said there was “disinformation” about vaccines in blood pressure,” the note read. The condition of the Russian-language media, as well as more global other ten workers is unknown. Four people were injured, “anti-vaxx propaganda”. “To address the disinfor- according to the note which was crumpled, water- mation in Russian, we are doubling our efforts on stained and scrawled in pencil on pages ripped out of a the information campaign, everything will also be notebook. “We wish the rescuers won’t stop so that we translated and available in Russian,” Pavluts told can still have hope. Thank you,” the note read. AFP. —AFP The writer of the note asked rescuers to send down some medication from his car, and warned that there QIXIA, China: This photo shows rescuers working at the site of gold mine explosion where 22 miners were trapped under- was a large amount of underground water where the ground in Qixia.— AFP miners are trapped. Footage from state broadcaster Italy PM struggles to save govt CCTV showed rescue workers cheering as the knock- The hashtag “Qixia gold mine incident” was viewed CCTV said. The explosion badly damaged the commu- ing sound was detected and later hurrying to read the 130 million times on popular social media site Weibo. “I nications system and exit ladder from the mine, which is ROME: Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte note which was taped to a line sunk below via a pneu- saw the note while I was watching the morning news owned by the Shandong Wucailong Investment Co. Ltd. was due to address parliament’s lower house yes- matic drill. and burst into tears,” one Weibo user wrote. Two officials have already been sacked over the terday at the start of a make-or-break week in a “I hope they will rescue the trapped workers as soon accident. Mining accidents are common in China, where crisis that could bring down his government. Hopes and tears as possible.” Some rescue workers wore fur hats to the industry has a poor safety record and regulations Against the backdrop of a coronavirus pandemic Footage showed rescuers sending a wire taped with keep off the cold while others appeared covered in dust are often weakly enforced. In December, 23 miners died that sparked fresh restrictions at the weekend, food and drinks down a small opening to the miners. and grime from the rescue operation. after being trapped in a mine in the southwestern city of Conte will seek a show of support with lawmakers Hopes of a miracle rescue after a days-long ordeal trig- Rescuers intend to drill multiple tunnels into the Chongqing-just months after 16 others died from car- ahead of a crucial vote in the upper Senate the gered an outpouring of sympathy and encouragement mine, to vent air as well as deliver supplies while work bon monoxide poisoning after being trapped under- following day. His coalition government, in power on Chinese social media. continues on bringing the miners back up to safety, ground at another coal mine in the city. —AFP since September 2019, was plunged into turmoil by the withdrawal last week of former premier Matteo Renzi’s Italia Viva party. Conte was to ‘Still trapped’ speak at midday to the Chamber of Deputies, Indonesian medics It was unclear how many people-dead or alive- where his coalition partners including the could be buried under mountains of debris, as res- Democratic Party (PD) and Five Star Movement cuers rushed to find survivors more than three days (M5S) have a majority of support. — AFP overwhelmed by after the disaster. Most of the 84 dead were found in Mamuju, but some bodies were also recovered south quake casualties of the city of 110,000 people in West Sulawesi province. At least 18 people had been pulled out of Malawi imposes first lockdown the rubble alive, including a pair of young sisters, MAMUJU, Indonesia: Medics battled exhaustion and according to official data. Police began using sniffer BLANTYRE, Malawi: Malawi is set to roll out a the risk of COVID-19 as they raced yesterday to treat dogs to help in the search at a badly damaged hospi- first set of anti-coronavirus restrictions this week, scores of people injured by a devastating earthquake tal, as body bags were filled with recovered corpses. the president said, after overruling a court ban on on Indonesia’s Sulawesi Island. At least 84 were killed “There are probably some people still trapped under lockdown measures to tackle a surge in cases. and thousands left homeless by the 6.2-magnitude the rubble,” search and rescue agency spokesman Unlike the rest of the continent, daily life had been quake that struck early Friday, reducing buildings to a Yusuf Latif said yesterday. unfolding normally in the southern African country PARIS: This file photo shows French Prime Minister tangled mass of twisted metal and chunks of concrete Meanwhile, about 30,000 people have taken since its High Court barred the government from Edouard Balladur (right) talking with Defense Minister in the seaside city of Mamuju. Doctors in hazard suits refuge at dozens of makeshift shelters-many little confining citizens to limit the spread of COVID-19. Francois Leotard during a meeting on national consultation treated patients with broken limbs and other injuries at more than makeshift tarpaulin tents filled with whole Judges ruled in April that insufficient measures of youth. — AFP a makeshift medical center set up outside the only one families. They said they were running low on food, were in place to cushion loss of livelihood in one of the city’s hospitals that survived relatively intact- blankets and other aid, as emergency supplies were of the world’s poorest countries, where most peo- one was flattened by the violent tremor. ple work informally. But Malawi, like many African A handful of doctors and nurses worked “non-stop” rushed to the hard-hit region. Friday’s tremor trig- Balladur on trial gered panic among residents of the island, which was states, is now grappling with an infection rise after in the first couple of days after the quake until rein- months of relatively low infection figures. — AFP forcements arrived, but it was still barely enough amid hit by a 2018 quake-tsunami that killed thousands. over ‘Karachi shortages of medicine and other supplies. “We were Many survivors of the latest disaster were unable completely overwhelmed at one point,” said Indahwati to return to their destroyed homes, or were too affair’ kickbacks Nursyamsi, director of West Sulawesi General scared to go back, fearing a tsunami sparked by Slovakia begins virus testing Hospital. “My nurses were also quake victims and had aftershocks, common after strong earthquakes. Hundreds have already fled camps in hard-hit to help their families.” Medics scrambled to quarantine BRATISLAVA, Slovakia: Slovakia yesterday Majene as rumors of a quake-tsunami rippled PARIS: Former French Prime Minister Edouard COVID-19 positive patients in a bid to prevent an out- began a new round of nationwide COVID-19 through a shelter there. “We were confused and Balladur goes on trial today on charges that he used break at the crowded open-air triage center. screening-a process aimed at easing curfew couldn’t check if that was true because there wasn’t kickbacks from arms deals in the 1990s to fund a Some with coronavirus have been put in a prayer restrictions for people who test negative. Tests will any Internet at the shelter,” said Ernawati, 38, who presidential bid, a case known as the “Karachi affair”. room-common in the Muslim majority nation-at the also serve as a basis for new localized restrictions Balladur, 91, joins a long list of senior French politi- back of the hospital. The hospital was trying to open fled to a town more than 100 kilometers away with a in the country’s 73 districts. “We have decided to cians pursued for alleged financial wrongdoing, up more rooms for surgery and erect additional tents dozen relatives. combine lockdown with massive testing,” Prime including former president and his outside to treat the injured. But fears that another Fear of another disaster was certain to heap more Minister Igor Matovic told a press conference predecessor, . The conservative ex- quake could bring down the building added to the stress on survivors, said Jan Gelfand, head of the yesterday. “Subsequently, we will intervene in dis- premier will be tried by the Court of Justice of the challenges as patients, and some staff, refused to stay International Federation of Red Cross and Red tricts where it is necessary to get the situation Republic in Paris, a tribunal dedicated to hearing cas- inside. “There are patients who were scared and Crescent Societies Indonesia. “The physical impact under control,” he said. The latest tests will end on es of ministerial misconduct. pleaded to be taken out of the building,” Nursyamsi of this earthquake is terrifying, but we must not January 26. Also in the dock will be his former defense minister said. Nurse Agriani, 29, who came from a nearby dis- underestimate the debilitating psychological effect Francois Leotard, 78, though his presence at the trial’s trict to help, said she had been working day and night. this disaster is having on tens of thousands of people opening is uncertain because of illness. Balladur will “It’s tiring... but it’s part of my job as a nurse,” said the who fled their homes,” he said. “They are living with appear in court today “to face his judges and answer woman, who like many Indonesians goes by one name. the constant threat of another big quake.” —AFP Australia not to open border their questions,” his lawyer Felix de Belloy said. The two men were charged in 2017 with “complicity in the SYDNEY: Australia’s international borders are misuse of corporate assets” over the sale of sub- unlikely to open to travellers this year despite the marines to and frigates to Saudi Arabia rollout of coronavirus vaccines, a top health offi- between 1993 and 1995, when Balladur was prime cial said yesterday. Health department secretary minister in the final years of Francois Mitterrand’s Brendan Murphy, a key adviser in Australia’s presidency. virus response, said free-flowing travel to and The kickbacks are estimated at 13 million francs, from the country was not expected to resume in now worth some 2.8-million-euros ($3.3 million), after 2021. “I think that we’ll go most of this year with accounting for inflation. The sum is believed to have still substantial border restrictions,” he told pub- included a cash injection of about 10 million francs to lic broadcaster ABC. “Even if we have a lot of the Balladur’s 1995 unsuccessful presidential campaign population vaccinated, we don’t know whether against Chirac. Balladur, who also has to answer to a that will prevent transmission of the virus. “And charge that he concealed the crimes, has denied any it’s likely that quarantine will continue for some wrongdoing, saying the 10 million francs came from time.” Australia’s border has been largely closed the sale of T-shirts and other items at campaign rallies. to overseas visitors since March 2020 to stem The claims came to light during an investigation into a the spread of COVID-19, with a limited number 2002 bombing in Karachi, Pakistan, which targeted a of citizens and their families allowed to return bus transporting French engineers. MAMUJU, Indonesia: A nurse treats a patient injured in the 6.2 magnitude earthquake at a makeshift ward outside West each week. — AFP Fifteen people were killed, including 11 engineers Sulawesi General Hospital due to concerns of aftershocks in Mamuju yesterday. — AFP working on the contract. The Al-Qaeda ter- ror network was initially suspected of the attack. But the focus later shifted to the arms deal as investigators “To protect the lives and health of the Japanese stressed the need to balance infection measures considered whether the bombing may have been Japan PM vows people... I will get the situation back to normal as against economic impact, but was slammed for con- revenge for Chirac’s decision to halt the commission soon as possible,” Suga said in a policy address to tinuing to back a domestic travel campaign even as payments for the arms deals shortly after he beat the Diet as it opened for a 150-day session. The infection rates spiked. He said yesterday his govern- Balladur in the presidential vote. to tackle virus greater Tokyo region and several other parts of ment would soon submit legislation intended to Leotard is accused of having created an “opaque Japan are under a virus state of emergency set to toughen the rules during a state of emergency- network” of intermediaries for the contracts signed with TOKYO: Japan’s Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga last until February 7, but the government has been including allowing fines for businesses that flout clo- Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. The ex-premier also stands pledged yesterday to tackle surging coronavirus cases accused of waiting too long to impose the measure sure requests. charged with instructing the budget ministry-led at the and restore normal life “as soon as possible” as polls and sending mixed messaging on the situation. A Reports suggest the government may also seek time by Sarkozy-to approve state guarantees for “defi- showed plunging support for his government. Suga, weekend survey by the Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper legal changes that would allow fines or even prison cient or underfunded” contracts, because of the alleged who was speaking at the opening of a new parliament showed approval for Suga’s cabinet sank six per- sentences for those who refuse hospitalization or kickbacks. Investigators say that cash deposits in session, has only been in office since September, but centage points from December to 39 percent, contact tracing after testing positive with the virus. Balladur’s campaign fund coincided with trips to has seen approval ratings nosedive over his govern- against a disapproval rate of 49 percent. Despite the recent spike, Japan has so far seen a Switzerland by Ziad Takieddine, a Lebanese-French ment’s handling of a third wave of infections. The latest The latest readings compare with a 74 percent comparatively small COVID-19 outbreak, with intermediary who has long been active in French wave in Japan and abroad has also cast doubt on approval rating for his government in the same sur- around 4,500 deaths overall. The government has rightwing circles. Takieddine fled to Lebanon last June whether the pandemic-postponed Tokyo 2020 vey when he took office in September. A poll from secured sufficient vaccine doses for all its 126 million after a Paris court sentenced him and another middle- Olympics can go ahead this year, but Suga repeated private broadcaster ANN over the weekend showed residents, but so far just Pfizer has applied for man, Abdul Rahman El-Assir, to five years in prison over he was still committed to holding the Games as “proof similar results, with approval dropping to 34.8 per- approval, and the jabs are not expected to start until their role in the “Karachi” kickbacks.—AFP of mankind’s victory over the virus”. cent from December. Suga’s government has late February. — AFP