A total of 309 lives have been lost in China's six worst coal
mining disasters so far this year -- a quarter more than during the
same period last year.
This year's rise in fatalities from major accidents came as the
total death toll from all accidents hit 4,150 for the first eight
months of 2003.
Of the worst disasters, over 30 people died in one accident.
Zhao Tiechui, deputy director of the State Administration of
Work Safety, the country's top watchdog on production safety, said
systems to safeguard workers in coal mines are facing management
problems.
Despite many workplace campaigns in recent years, there is still
much to be done to make coal mining in China safer, Zhao said
yesterday during a teleconference on the subject.
From January 1 to September 17 this year, the number of
"serious" coal mine accidents and deaths they caused increased by
50 percent and 25 percent respectively over the same period last
year, said Zhao.
Serious accidents have also begun to occur in some big
state-owned coal mines which had been listed as examples of safe
workplaces.
Small, unlicensed coal mines are still the biggest headache and
the key to preventing more accidents and death, Zhao noted.
The numbers of accidents and deaths caused by small coal mines
have accounted for more than 70 percent of the total nationwide
this year, Zhao added.
In the first eight months of this year, 2,452 coal mine
accidents causing 4,150 deaths were reported in China -- figures
similar to those over the same period last year.
(China Daily September 19, 2003)