Chapter 206 Underground Explosion
A hurried response came from the other end of the intercom, with the sound of metal clashing and shouting in the background: "The fire department has received the alarm, and the rescue team is on the way!"
Twenty minutes later, three fire trucks arrived with shrill sirens.
Well-trained firefighters took quick action and were divided into two groups: one group used handheld detection instruments to conduct a safety assessment of the collapsed area, while the other group had begun assembling a heavy drilling rig.
The metal support of the drilling rig shone coldly in the sunlight, and the roar of the engine indicated that the rescue operation, which was a race against time, had officially begun.
Fire Captain Fang Jun strode towards the control room. He was wearing a red helmet with the words "Rescue Commander" printed on it, and his combat uniform was still covered with dust left over from other scenes.
"I'm Fire Captain Fang Jun," he said in a steady and powerful voice, his eyes quickly scanning every corner of the control room. "Can you contact the six trapped people underground now? We need to confirm their real-time status."
Du Weifeng immediately stepped forward and said, "Captain Fang, the smart helmets they are wearing support real-time video communication. We are establishing a connection."
He turned and quickly operated the console, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "It's expected to be connected in five minutes."
"Very good!" Fang Jun nodded, his eyes fixed on the display. "We need to plan the drilling route based on their specific location. Every second is crucial."
At this moment, the main screen in the control room suddenly lit up, and accompanied by a burst of electrical noise, the picture gradually became clear.
Du Weifeng's voice was filled with obvious nervousness and anticipation: "Connected!"
The screen showed a dim image of the underground, with several figures wearing helmets vaguely visible in the swaying flashlight beams.
Xia Lili unconsciously took a step forward, her eyes fixed on the screen.
The entire control room fell silent in an instant, and everyone held their breath, watching the real-time images from deep underground.
On the screen, in the flickering light of flashlights, several workers wearing yellow safety helmets crowded in front of the camera.
In the background, twisted steel bars pierced from the concrete like ferocious claws, and the collapsed rubble piled up into a small hill.
A young worker wiped the dust off his face and said calmly, "Boss Du, we're all fine! It's just that all the exits are blocked. The ventilation system is still working, so it's not stuffy for now. But this horrible weather..."
He looked up at the roof that was constantly leaking. "The rain keeps pouring in. I don't know how much longer this can last."
At this moment, a worker in his early thirties suddenly squeezed in front of the camera.
The centipede-like scar on his left cheek looked particularly hideous in the dim light, and his bloodshot eyes were wide open.
"Boss Du! Old Meng was scratched by a falling steel pipe!"
His voice was hoarse, the corners of his mouth twitched unnaturally, and his whole face seemed to be wearing a stiff mask, but the anxiety in his tone was real.
Xia Lili frowned slightly. Her occupational disease made her immediately notice the worker's unusual facial expression.
It seems like a sequelae of facial paralysis, or it seems like it's difficult to control facial muscles due to some disease.
Du Weifeng said in a deep voice, "Old Zhou, this is Captain Fang from the fire department. You're most familiar with underground structures. Tell us your current location and where is the best place to drill the well."
Old Zhou's stiff face turned toward the camera. He raised his muddy arm and gestured, "Captain Fang, we're now in the B2 tunnel operation area, about 15 meters directly below ventilation shaft No. 3."
His voice suddenly became unusually clear and professional. "If we drill vertically through the backup channel in the southeast corner, avoiding the main load-bearing wall, that should be the fastest way to get through..."
As he was speaking, Lao Zhou suddenly started coughing violently, and the camera shook for a while. After he stopped coughing, the camera was straightened.
However, just as Xia Lili looked at the worker called Lao Zhou on the big screen in the control room, the picture in front of her suddenly became distorted and blurred.
Xia Lili held her breath. Could it be that something was going to happen to these six workers trapped underground?
In an instant, hallucinations flooded into my mind.
The firefighters were concentrating on operating the drill, and the metal drill bit produced dazzling sparks on the concrete.
Suddenly, a strange "hissing" sound came from underground, like countless poisonous snakes spitting out their tongues.
"Oh no! It's methane—"
Before the warning was even finished, a blinding flash of fire burst out from the drill hole.
Amid the deafening explosion, the entire ground heaved violently like waves.
The drilling rig was lifted into the air and turned into a ball of burning scrap metal that smashed into the crowd.
Underground, Lao Zhou only had time to see a dazzling white light.
The next second, a 3000-degree high-temperature air wave instantly swept across the entire space.
His retina was vaporized in a thousandth of a second, and the nerve endings didn't even have time to transmit pain signals to his brain.
On the ground, three firefighters who were laying water hoses were thrown directly into the air by the shock wave of the explosion.
Their young bodies slammed against the concrete wall like rag dolls, their fireproof suits reduced to ashes in the flames.
In the thick smoke, a charred hand was still tightly gripping the trigger of the water gun.
In the last scene of the hallucination, Xia Lili's vision suddenly switched to the evening news.
The news anchor read the script solemnly, "Our latest news: At 10:49 yesterday morning, a major safety accident occurred at a construction site in the eastern suburbs."
The background image switches to an aerial shot of the explosion site, where a huge black mushroom cloud is slowly rising.
"Preliminary investigations revealed that the accident occurred when a drilling rig penetrated an underground methane layer, causing an explosion. Sadly, all six trapped workers and three firefighters involved in the rescue were killed."
As the anchorman reported, the ID photos of the nine victims flashed on the screen one by one. Lao Zhou's scarred face was particularly eye-catching in the third row.
The anchor continued, "The investigation found serious violations at the construction site. The methane concentration test report is suspected to be falsified, and in fact, no standardized testing was ever conducted."
The screen cuts to law enforcement officers escorting the handcuffed Du Weifeng into a police car. "The construction site manager, Mr. Du, has been taken into police custody on suspicion of a major accident due to negligence."
"What's even more worrying is that," the anchor's tone became heavy,
The accident happened while children from the welfare home were carrying out a public welfare graffiti activity outside the construction site. The scene cuts to a shot of seven children huddled in a corner of the psychological clinic, their hands still stained with wet paint, their eyes staring blankly ahead.
"The explosion has left psychological scars on the children, and they are now receiving psychological intervention treatment."
The final scene was a surveillance video captured at the moment of the explosion: the glass in the control room shattered instantly under the shock wave, and the camera lens shook violently and fell to the ground, leaving only the black smoke billowing and rising outside the window, like a ferocious dragon rising into the sky.
The hallucination ends here.
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