40 Dead, 138 Missing in China Coal Mine Blast

28/11/2005| IslamWeb

Up to 40 workers were killed and another 138 were listed as missing after an explosion at a major coal mine in China's northeast Heilongjiang province, state press reported.

A total of 220 miners were underground when the accident at the Dongfeng coal mine near Qitaihe in the province's far east occurred at 9:40 pm (1340 GMT) Sunday, the China News Service website reported.

Forty miners have been confirmed dead, 138 are missing and 42 escaped, the website said.

Xinhua news agency put the confirmed death toll at 30, with 149 missing and 42 rescued survivors.

Investigators said the accident was caused by a coal-dust explosion, which knocked out all the ventilation systems in the pit, according to Xinhua.

National and provincial authorities refused to comment immediately on the accident when contacted by AFP.

Heilongjiang Longmei Group, a mining conglomerate of four major state-owned coal businesses with a registered capital of 13 billion yuan (1.6 billion dollars), owns the Dongfeng mine, Xinhua said.

Although many of the accidents in China's coal industry occur in illegal mines, the China News Service said the Dongfeng mine was fully licensed.

The accident came as 17 miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in northern Hebei province since Thursday last week were still officially listed as missing, presumed dead.

China's mines are regarded as the most dangerous in the world, and the problem has worsened in recent years as demand for raw materials has escalated to help fuel the nation's rapid economic growth.

China relies on coal for two-thirds of its energy needs and the government said early this month it intended to increase domestic coal production from 2.1 billion tons to 2.4 billion tons over the next five years.

More than 6,000 miners died in accidents in China last year, according to previously released government figures. Independent estimates say the real figure could be as high as 20,000.

Xinhua reported four weeks ago that coal mine fatalities had increased 8.5 percent in the first eight months of 2005 compared with the same period last year, without giving the total number.

The government has this year been trying to step-up safety measures for the nation's coal mines and China's top leaders again vowed over the weekend to improve industry conditions.

"General Secretary Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have issued orders many times to request relevant departments to make efficient measures to step up safety production work and to stop the trend of serious accidents," the State Administration of Work Safety website quoted state television as saying.

However efforts to make China's mines safer have largely failed because mine owners simply reopen closed pits illegally, critics say.

Officials often turn a blind eye to the illegal operations as many people in authority, even those in charge of inspecting mines, own stakes in the lucrative businesses.

PHOTO CAPTION

Miners push carts laden with coal out of a mine. (AFP)