Blast, Flood in China Coal Mines Kill 64

17/07/2006| IslamWeb

An explosion in one mine and flooding in another killed 64 workers and left seven missing in the latest disasters to strike China's mining industry, state media reported Monday.

The blast killed at least 50 workers Saturday in the Linjiazhuang Coal Mine in Jinzhong, a city in Shanxi province, China's main coal-producing region. Six escaped, and another who was rescued was suffering from carbon-monoxide poisoning, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. Seven others were missing, China Central Television said.

Investigators blamed the blast on airborne coal dust that caught fire, Xinhua reported. CCTV said the mine manager was in police custody.

Also Saturday, the rain-swollen Leishui River in Hunan province overflowed, killing one miner who was on duty and seven technicians who were in a pit at the Shenjiawen Colliery, Xinhua said.

Another six workers died after "being trapped in collapsed houses and flooded pump rooms," the news agency said. Rescuers had to give up their efforts Sunday after the torrential flooding filled the entire pit.

China's coal mines are the world's deadliest, with more than 5,000 deaths every year in explosions, fires and other disasters.

Last month, a flood in another coal mine in Shanxi killed 56 miners.

PHOTO CAPTION

A local resident falls off from his bicycle on a flooded street after a rainstorm hit Fuzhou, east China's Fujian province, July 16, 2006. (Reuters)

AP