At least 13 miners are dead and another three missing after an
early-morning coal mine gas explosion in Guizhou
Province's Liupanshui City, in southwest China.
The blast occurred at 1:30 AM Wednesday in the No. 2 pit, when
49 miners were working underground.
Thirty-three people have so far been rescued, four of them
injured. No report was available on the extent of their
injuries.
Two rescue teams from the Panjiang Coal and Electricity
Corporation and Panxian County have been sent to the scene. Local
officials, including Vice Governor Zhang Qunshan and Guizhou
Provincial Coal Mine Safety Supervision Bureau Director He Gang,
are also at the site to oversee rescue and recovery operations.
The mine is owned by?a township and was licensed to
operate. Safety conditions were rated C on a four-level scale (A
meaning good conditions and D meaning unqualified to operate),
according to sources from the Coal Mine Safety Supervision
Bureau.
Meanwhile, in Hebei
Province, the local government announced on Tuesday that the
cleanup and recovery work following the November 20 iron mine fire
have "basically" been completed.
Most victims' families have received compensation, it said. The
minimum amount was set at 48,000 yuan (US$5,800) to each bereft
family and "will be adjusted according to actual situations." A
local publicity official said that the city has raised enough funds
to ensure timely payment of compensation.
The fire raced through five linked iron mines in Shahe City,
trapping 106 miners and claiming 68 lives.
In Shaanxi
Province, Provincial Coal Industry Bureau Director Huo Shichang
said today that none of the miners trapped by Sunday's gas
explosion at the Chenjiashan Coal Mine could have survived in the
high concentration of gas and carbon monoxide that filled the
tunnels.
There were 293 miners working underground when the explosion
occurred in pits some 8,000 meters from the mine entrance. Only
127, most of whom were working near the entrance, managed to escape
or were rescued.
(CRI.com, Xinhua News Agency, and China.org.cn December 1,
2004)