China News Service, Jinzhong, May 9th, Question: Rescue Documentary of Shanxi Jinzhong Fly Ash Silo Dumping Accident
China News Service reporter Lu Qiguo
"Found it!" At 10:35 on May 9th, in Guo Village, Xiuwen Town, Yuci District, Jinzhong District, Shanxi Province, the rescue scene of the fly ash warehouse of Wanbao Delong New Building Materials Co., Ltd. was dumped, and firefighters shouted.
The found worker is the seventh and last trapped worker in this accident.
So far, after 75 hours of intense search and rescue, the accident rescue work ended, and three people were unfortunately killed.
A firefighter watching the bucket is directing the loader.
Photo by Qi Shuai
Spade handle probes fourth trapped worker
After the accident, relevant leaders and experts from Shanxi Province, Jinzhong City, and Yuci District rushed to the scene as soon as possible, gave first-line command, and organized professional teams such as firefighting, emergency response, and public security to carry out rescue.
The incident company is located next to the S102 provincial road in Guo Village, Xiuwen Town, Yuci District, Jinzhong City, Shanxi Province.
Since the fly ash silo was dumped and smashed two small tanks and workshops, the amount of scattered fly ash was very large, making it very difficult to rescue.
The first to arrive at the scene were 11 firefighters from the Jiaohua Road Fire Rescue Station, Yuci District, Jinzhong City.
Afterwards, the Jinzhong City Fire Rescue Detachment mobilized the Longhu Street Special Service Station, Shuncheng East Street and Huifu Street Fire Rescue Stations to reinforce the scene one after another.
Su Bo, the instructor of the Coking Road Fire and Rescue Station, led people to reconnaissance and quickly locked the positions of two of the trapped workers: one was trapped in the cab of the crushed forklift, and the other was on the west side.
At 8:35, Wang Junhong, political commissar of the Jinzhong Fire Rescue Detachment, led the full-service headquarters to the scene.
According to the situation at the scene, Wang Junhong instructed Yang Ying, deputy head of the detachment, to lead a team to rescue a trapped worker at the scene of the accident.
"The fly ash at the site is very thick and it is not easy to move, so we built wooden boards and divided the area." Su Bo introduced that the members of the Coking Road Fire Station used shovels to scratch and explore the fly ash pile to conduct search and rescue in the delineated area. During this period, Tian Jun, the squad leader of the third combat team, suddenly felt a change in the resilience of the wooden handle of the shovel, and found a worker who was buried about 30 cm below the surface of the fly ash.
Since the trapped worker had a bucket weighing several tons on his body, the man could not move it at all, so he used a large loader to lift the bucket.
At 9:38, the worker was rescued.
He is the fourth person to be rescued from the accident.
Firefighters search and rescue trapped people near a damaged factory building.
Photo by Zhao Sihua
Open rescue channel for 5th trapped worker
When the firefighters found the fifth trapped worker, he was trapped in the smashed forklift cab. Except for the wound on his head, he was conscious and able to move his limbs, and his body parts were not stuck.
Leading the team to rescue the worker was Guo Lianpeng, deputy head of the Jinzhong Fire Rescue Detachment.
The rescue plan he finalized was to use a demolition tool to open a rescue channel in a small space below a small tank that fell horizontally.
According to the rescue plan, Song Jingkang, the instructor of the special service fire station on Longhu Street, led three firefighters into the narrow space.
They first used hydraulic demolition tool sets and toothless saws to demolish some obstacles, and then used angle grinders to cut obstacles in smaller spaces.
"We opened an aisle about a shoulder width. Because stretchers cannot be used in such a small space, we encouraged the trapped workers to climb out through the aisle." Song Jingkang introduced.
At 10:57, the worker climbed out of the narrow passage and was immediately carried into an ambulance.
He was the fifth worker rescued.
A reporter from Chinanews.com saw that the worker who was lying on a stretcher could turn his head and lift his arms.
A firefighter knelt on one leg on a pile of fly ash to search for the trapped people.
Photo by Qi Shuai
Rescue work around the clock
On the 6th, the Jinzhong Meteorological Department issued a blue warning for strong winds.
After the rescue began, the wind became stronger and stronger, and the fly ash was rolled up into the sky. Some particles hit the face with slight pain, and a sound could be heard on the helmet.
In order to search and rescue the last two trapped workers as soon as possible, the rescue work continued around the clock from the day of the launch to the morning of May 9.
At about 11:00 on the 7th, the rescue headquarters used the "mechanical + manpower" method to conduct screening in the factory building about 150 meters southwest of the fifth trapped worker.
After the excavator removed the surface layer of fly ash, firefighters dug manually and found the sixth trapped worker at 11:30.
Starting at noon on the 7th, fire rescue personnel further expanded the scope of search and rescue, and the search and rescue operations were carried out towards the east and south sides of the involved enterprises.
During the operation of each loader and excavator, the fire department arranges firefighters to keep an eye on the bucket.
For the loader, due to its large bucket, firefighters form a "double insurance" when observing: one firefighter sits in the cab, and one firefighter stands on the ground to observe whether the bucket is shoveled into fly ash. Access to trapped workers, and whether there are trapped workers inside when the fly ash is dumped.
The last trapped worker found on the morning of the 9th was discovered by firefighters when the bucket was shoveling fly ash.
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