-
Rescuers wait to go down Xinxing coal mine to search for survivors following a gas explosion at the mine - Source: Reuters -
Related
The death toll from China's latest coal mine disaster reached 87
as hopes dimmed on Sunday that more survivors would be found a day
after a gas blast at a colliery in the country's icy far
northeast.
Xinhua news agency reported 528 workers were in the mine, at Hegang
in Heilongjiang province, at the time of the blast, and 420 had
been rescued by Sunday.
Some 21 miners remained trapped or unaccounted for, Zhang Jinguang,
a spokesman for the mine company, told reporters, who were taken by
officials to see 20 or so rescue workers descending down a tunnel
still belching smoke.
Zhang Fucheng, an official in charge of rescue efforts, told
Chinese television that efforts were being impeded by dense gas and
collapsed tunnels.
Temperatures were near freezing.
This was the latest accident to hit the world's deadliest major
coal mining industry.
The blast was so violent it shook the surrounding area and
nearby buildings partly collapsed.
Some of the survivors were badly injured.
"When I saw my husband, this mess of blood and flesh, I didn't
recognise him at first," said Huang Guizhen, the wife of injured
miner Qu Zhongliang, a Heilongjiang province news website
reported.
"Then the doctor told me it was my husband and I burst into
tears."
Compared to other manual jobs, Chinese coal miners can earn
relatively high wages, tempting workers and farmers into rickety
and poorly ventilated shafts.
Safety staff knew gas in the mine had reached dangerous levels and
were rushing to clear it when the blast erupted 500 metres below
ground, the website report also said.
The Xinxing mine in Hegang lies near China's border with Russia and
produced over a million tonnes of coal in the first 10 months of
this year, the report said.
It is owned by the Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Holding Group,
making it larger than most operations where colliery accidents
occur.
In the first half of this year, 1,175 people died in officially
recorded coal mine accidents across China, a fall of 18.4% compared
to the same time last year, according to the State Administration
of Coal Mine Safety.
Nor have Hegang's coal mines had a spotless record.
Earlier state media reports showed that in three accidents - one in
2002 and two last year - a total of 88 miners died.
