A new coal mine accident and more confirmed deaths from Friday's added to the industry's death toll yesterday as work safety authorities published figures on casualties for the first quarter of this year.

One miner was killed and 22 others trapped in a coal mine gas blast in Chongqing Municipality, southwest China, on Tuesday afternoon, according to local work safety authorities.

The accident occurred at about 2:00 PM at a Tianfu Mining Company colliery in Hechuan City. Work safety officials said that rescue work is underway.

Meanwhile, the number killed in Friday's coal mine flooding in Hunan Province has risen to nine and eight others remain missing, rescuers there said yesterday.

Water from Guida Coal Mine, flooded by heavy rain, gushed into the neighboring Shihuiyao Coal Mine in Heye Township, Guiyang County of Chenzhou City, stranding 17 miners underground, according to the local coal mine safety supervision authorities.

More than 30 rescuers are working underground to search for the missing miners, but the chances of survival are slim, said Hao Quwu, deputy director of the rescue work.

Hao said there are two areas that rescuers have not been able to reach, and both are filled with silt. The mines involved were unlicensed, coal mine safety authorities said, and their managers are under police control.

The news on both accidents came as the General Administration of Work Safety said the first three months of the year had seen a 20 percent year-on-year increase in coal mine deaths.

A total of 1,113 people had been killed, and Li Yizhong, a minister from the administration, said the main cause was lax supervision and administration, as well as unenforced regulations.

At a press conference hosted by the State Council Information Office, Li said he did not expect a coal shortage despite a recent crackdown on illegal mines.

"The campaign to shut down coal pits which do not meet safety standards will affect the coal supply to some degree but will not cause a shortage," he said, basing his confidence on the closed operations' small scale.

Earlier reports said that in the "coal province" of Shanxi, only about 700 mines of the total 4,000 were authorized to continue operating.

Li added that "the government's priority will be to guarantee the safety of workers" if increasing coal production and safety conflicted.

Coal accounts for 67 percent of China's energy consumption. Output last year surpassed 1.9 billion tons, 57 percent of which was produced by 778 large state-owned mines. 1,200 medium-sized state-owned companies and 23,400 small, private operations supplied 15 percent and 28 percent respectively.

In February, an underground explosion in Fuxin, northeast China's Liaoning Province, killed 214 miners, and was the second deadliest mine accident since 1949.

(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency April 6, 2005)