RPAGF Chapter 899 The rescue is in progress
Chapter 899 The rescue is in progress
The mining lamp swayed in the deep tunnel, and the halo of light shone on the damp rock wall. The coal blocks oozing with water droplets glowed a strange dark red.
Lao Tian held the pickaxe and heard a faint "clicking" sound above his head, like the rock burping, or the sound of some giant beast chewing bones.
"Old Tian, what are you dawdling about? If this mine car is not fully loaded, the foreman will deduct our wages again." Xiao Liu behind him patted his back with a shovel.
Old Tian didn't respond. He always felt that the uneasiness was like a piece of wet coal stuck in his throat - when he went down the well just now, the leaves of the locust trees at the wellhead were motionless, and even the crows didn't call. This was not normal.
Suddenly, a muffled sound came from deep in the alley, as if a giant underground had sneezed.
The light from the mining lamp suddenly dimmed, and the rock dust above the head fell down, choking and making people cough.
Old Tian subconsciously reached for the safety rope around his waist. As soon as his fingers touched the cold iron buckle, the entire alley began to shake violently.
"Run! Run!" someone shouted. Pickaxes and shovels clanged to the ground, and the workers scrambled toward the transport tunnel.
Old Tian was squeezed into the crowd and heard the roar of rock tearing behind him, like countless blunt knives scraping across his eardrums. The mining lamp went out, and darkness instantly swallowed everyone.
He scrabbled at the rock face, digging his nails into the coal seams. He felt a warm liquid trickle down his arm—he couldn't tell if it was blood or sweat. The sounds of landslides overhead grew more frequent, like torrential rain pounding on a tin shed, or like the heavens beating a drum. Suddenly, a huge rock smashed into the transport track. The shriek of a derailed mine car pierced his eardrums, and sparks of metal clashing exploded in the darkness.
"Help! Help! --" A scream came from the front, and was immediately drowned out by the roar of falling rocks.
Old Tian recognized that the screaming sound came from a young man named Xiao Liu, who had been married for less than a year and went down the well to save his wife and children.
The sound might be ominous, but he couldn't care less about others now. His legs were also pinned down by the gravel, and he could only desperately dig at the ground with his hands, his knuckles grinding bloody on the gravel.
In the darkness, he heard people crying, people shouting their family members' names, and people humming an off-tune Errenzhuan.
After an unknown amount of time, the sound of the landslide gradually faded. Lao Tian found a protruding rock and climbed up with his last bit of strength.
He felt a warm body beside him and took out his lighter tremblingly - in the dim light, Xiao Liu's face was covered in blood and flesh, and a half-broken steel drill was stuck in his chest.
"Old...Old Tian..." Xiao Liu's throat swelled with dark red foam. "My wife...is going to give birth...next month..." Before he could finish his words, his hand dropped. Old Tian trembled all over, his lighter dropping to the ground. Darkness enveloped him once more. He huddled against the rocks, listening to the distant groans and the clatter of falling gravel, as if the entire mine were slowly drawing its last breath.
"Natural disaster! Natural disaster!" Lao Tian let out a shrill cry.
……
Beishan Building No. 2.
A rapid phone call suddenly rang, waking up Qi Tongwei who was drowsy on the sofa.
"A sudden collapse occurred at the Tianzhou coal mine, and approximately 300 people are currently trapped underground."
The news was like a bolt from the blue, shocking yet expected.
It's really coming!
Qi Tongwei felt his blood boiling and rushing to his head.
He has no achievements now, and he only has one thought in his mind: promotion and wealth.
Save people!
Help!
After taking two deep breaths, Qi Tongwei quickly picked up the phone and dialed the number. "Rescue team! This is Qi Tongwei. I'm ordering you now! All units should be mobilized immediately, as quickly as possible! Rush to Tianzhou Coal Mine. Save people! Help!"
Soon, various alarms sounded through the sky and circled in the sky above Beishan.
Just ten minutes after the call was made, the streets of Beishan were brightly lit by police cars with flashing red and blue lights.
Traffic control was quickly activated, and all city roads leading to Tianzhou turned on green lights, opening a green channel for rescue vehicles.
All of this was able to be responded to so quickly thanks to Qi Tongwei's foresight.
After predicting that an accident might occur at the Tianzhou Coal Mine, he asked all relevant units to cancel their vacations and have all employees on duty and on standby at all times.
Eat at the company and sleep at the company.
It was precisely because of this advance preparation that the rescue team was able to deploy in an orderly manner as soon as the instructions were issued and quickly rush to Tianzhou according to the established plan.
Fifteen minutes after the instructions were given, Qi Tongwei was already sitting in car number two, speeding out of the city.
Looking at the rescue convoy ahead, Qi Tongwei had a lot of thoughts in his mind.
This was the first time since he entered politics that he had to command such a grand scene. A team of thousands of people and hundreds of lives were all controlled by his words and actions. It would be a lie to say that there was no pressure.
But Qi Tongwei didn't have time to sigh or sort out his thoughts, as the phone calls came in one after another.
The first one is Zhao Anbang.
When Qi Tongwei saw Zhao Anbang's call, he realized that he had forgotten to report the situation to the provincial party committee and government as soon as possible.
This is a mistake, remember!
Qi Tongwei warned himself in his heart and hung up the phone.
Zhao Anbang came to give him instructions and inform him to provide support.
Qi Tongwei said he had already set off and expected to arrive in Tianzhou within 40 minutes and start rescue work within an hour.
Zhao Anbang was stunned for a moment before he said several times, "Okay, okay, Tongwei, when we get there, you will be in charge of everyone! You have to hold on until support arrives from the province.
There must be no chaos. I'm counting on you to take care of hundreds of families in Tianzhou."
Qi Tongwei felt even more pressured and gritted his teeth, saying, "Governor Zhao, don't worry. I will do my best to pave the way for subsequent rescue operations."
Zhao Anbang gave a few more instructions and hung up the phone.
Qi Tongwei asked his secretary to contact Tianzhou to find out the situation.
Pei Yihong and Yu Huabei called again and again.
They were all prepared to arrange nearby sister cities as vanguards to control the situation as soon as possible.
When they learned that Qi Tongwei was already on his way to Tianzhou, they were both surprised.
Pei Yihong was surprised and gave Qi Tongwei a nominal position - temporary commander-in-chief of emergency rescue, and then hung up the phone in a hurry.
Yu Huabei’s call was quite interesting.
He first praised Qi Tongwei and the people of Beishan for their quick response, and then introduced the situation in Wenshan next.
The Wenshan support team had also departed, perhaps half an hour later than Beishan. The commander of the Wenshan team was none other than Yu Xiaoxiao, the recently promoted Deputy Mayor.
Qi Tongwei found it funny.
Deputy Secretary Yu really promotes talented people regardless of their relationship with him.
It was obvious that he wanted his daughter to take the credit.