All 14 workers trapped in a flooded tunnel in Zhuhai City, Guangdong Province, have been confirmed dead after seven days and their bodies have been found by rescuers, according to the state news agency.
They were trapped in the construction site of the Shijingshan tunnel, part of the city’s Xingye expressway, when the site was flooded at approximately 3:30 a.m. on July 15.
Two dead bodies were earlier received on Monday. More than 2,400 rescuer workers and over 200 rescue vehicles have been dispatched to the scene.
However, the narrowness of the tunnel and complicated hydrological, geological and meteorological conditions have complicated rescue work, according to media reports.
The cause of the flood is under investigation. In March, two workers died in another part of the tunnel when a protective wall collapsed and they were hit by falling stones, according to a notice from the Zhuhai emergency management department.
Xingye Highway Express Line is an expressway that runs through the north and south of Zhuhai main city and connects with the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge, according to media reports.
Zhuhai is a coastal city near Macau at the mouth of the Pearl River Delta.
It was one of China’s early special economic zones when the Communist Party started opening up the nation’s economy about 40 years ago.