China Coal-Mine Explosion Kills 37 People, Traps 71 (Update2)
By Bloomberg News
Nov. 21 (Bloomberg) -- A coal-mine explosion in the northeastern Chinese province of Heilongjiang has killed 37 miners and trapped 71, China Central Television reported on its Web site.
The explosion happened at 2:30 a.m. at Xinxing mine where 528 miners were working, the State Administration of Work Safety said on its Web site. Rescue efforts are under way, according to the statement.
The explosion destroyed the mine’s ventilation and communication system, making it difficult for rescue, CCTV said.
China relies on coal to generate 80 percent of its electricity. A coal-mine explosion in the southwestern Chinese city of Chongqing on May 30 killed 30 workers and another coal- mine blast in Shanxi province on Feb. 22 left 74 miners dead, according to the government.
Xinxing mine, owned by Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Holding Group Co., has an annual production capacity of 1.45 million tons of coal, according to the statement.
China’s death toll from coal mine accidents fell 12 percent in the first seven months of this year from a year earlier after the government closed small pits to improve safety, according to Luo Lin, head of the State Administration of Work Safety.
--Jiang Jianguo. Editors: Sean Collins, Mike Millard.
Chinese coal mine explosion traps 139 November 21, 2009 - 3:39PM
A gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China has trapped 139 miners and injured an unknown number of people but there were no immediate reports of any deaths.
The explosion occurred at about 2.30am on Saturday (0530 AEDT) in northeast China's Heilongjiang province, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. It said the mine confirmed that another 389 miners managed to escape.
A man answering the phone at the mine said an unknown number of people were injured but no deaths were reported.
An official with the Hegang city's Work Safety Bureau told The Associated Press that rescue work continues and could not give more details.
The mine is run by one of China's top 520 state-owned enterprises, according to the website of its owner, the Hegang branch of the Heilongjiang Longmei Holding Mining Group. The site says the Hegang branch has more than 88,000 employees.
China's mines are the world's deadliest, with unregulated operations accounting for almost 80 per cent of the country's 16,000 mines.
The closing of many small, dangerous mines halved the average number of miners killed to about six a day in the first half of this year, the government has said.
Most accidents are blamed on failures to follow safety rules, including a lack of required ventilation or fire control equipment.
A blast at the Tunlan coal mine in northern China's Shanxi province killed 77 people in February, China's worst industrial accident in a year.
AP
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