2007年VOA标准英语-Congo Suspends Search for Survivors of Cave-In

By Joe Bavier
Kinshasa
07 January 2007

Recovery efforts have been suspended near the town of Tshikapa in the Democratic Republic of Congo, following a cave-in at a pit mine Friday. Local officials in Western Kasai province say at least 13 people digging for diamonds were killed. Joe Bavier has more for VOA from the capital, Kinshasa.

The mayor of Tshikapa, Albert Mutombo, said Sunday that efforts to recover bodies at an open pit mine on the outskirts¹ of the town were being suspended until Monday.

Thirteen bodies were recovered during an initial rescue and recovery operation organized in the hours after the accident early Friday. Local residents worked until nightfall trying to save those buried. Three people working in the 15 meter-deep trench² survived.

No more survivors³ or bodies were found in rescue efforts on Saturday, but Mutombo said it is difficult to know how many people were working in the mine at the time of the accident. More victims, he said, might still be buried in the pit.

Miners handle stones on a hilltop of Mbola mines in Democratic Republic of Congo (File photo)

Mineral-rich Democratic Republic of Congo has been ravaged⁴ by decades of mismanagement and a five-year civil war that killed some four million people, mostly from hunger and disease worsened by the fighting.

Most mining infrastructure⁵ has been pillaged⁶ or destroyed.

Primitive⁷ pit mining is often one of the few ways impoverished⁸ Congolese can make a living, and cave-ins are frequent.

Local officials blamed recent heavy rains for saturating the ground around mines, increasing the risk of cave-ins

1 outskirts   

n.郊外，郊区

参考例句：

• Our car broke down on the outskirts of the city.我们的汽车在市郊出了故障。
• They mostly live on the outskirts of a town.他们大多住在近郊。

2 trench   

n./v.(挖)沟，(挖)战壕

参考例句：

• The soldiers recaptured their trench.兵士夺回了战壕。
• The troops received orders to trench the outpost.部队接到命令在前哨周围筑壕加强防卫。

3 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

4 ravaged   

毁坏( ravage的过去式和过去分词 )； 蹂躏； 劫掠； 抢劫

参考例句：

• a country ravaged by civil war 遭受内战重创的国家
• The whole area was ravaged by forest fires. 森林火灾使整个地区荒废了。

5 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

6 pillaged   

v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• They are to be pillaged and terrorised in Hitler's fury and revenge. 在希特勒的狂怒和报复下，他们还遭到掠夺和恐怖统治。 来自辞典例句
• They villages were pillaged and their crops destroyed. 他们的村子被抢，他们的庄稼被毁。 来自辞典例句

7 primitive   

adj.原始的；简单的；n.原(始)人，原始事物

参考例句：

• It is a primitive instinct to flee a place of danger.逃离危险的地方是一种原始本能。
• His book describes the march of the civilization of a primitive society.他的著作描述了一个原始社会的开化过程。

8 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》