A national investigation team was officially set up
yesterday by the State Council to find the cause of the Daxing Coal
Mine flooding in Guangdong.
The same day all 15 miners trapped after another colliery flooding
in Jiangxi
last month were at last confirmed dead.
While the principal work is still focused on
rescuing the 122 miners still trapped underground at Daxing, an
investigation into the accident's cause is also urgent, Li Yizhong,
director of the investigation team, told a press conference in
Xingning City.
"We should find out why the accident happened as
quickly as possible, so we can prevent such disasters from
happening again," said Li, also director of the State
Administration of Work Safety.
Preliminary investigations suggested the local
government had not been properly supervising mines in the area, as
Daxing had been operating for several years without necessary
production licenses, Li said.
"Daxing continued mining even after the provincial
government issued an order to suspend production at all local mines
in the wake of the tragedy on July 14 in Xingning that killed 16
miners," said Li, referring to a flooding at Fusheng Coal Mine in
Luogang Township.
"The coal mine obtained a safety certificate early
in June, but it was found not to meet mine production safety
standards. We should find out why the local government approved the
certificate," Li added.
According to Li, mine officials and some top local
officials should bear responsibility for the accident. Prior to
yesterday, two local mayors had been removed from their posts for
failing to properly supervise the mine and 11 mine staff
detained.
Ten miners who had remained missing after a flood
at a licensed coal mine in Jiangxi five weeks ago have finally been
confirmed dead, local government sources said on Thursday, bringing
the death toll to 15.
Jiangxi's Coal Mine Forensic Sciences Center
established there was no chance of survival for them, though their
bodies have not been found yet.
As the shaft has been flooded for such a long time
the coal-bearing rock has became waterlogged, which is likely to
cause new collapses and casualties, according to the forensic
sciences center.
The recovery operation was called to a halt after
rescue headquarters and the families of the trapped miners reached
a consensus.
The flooding occurred at around 4 PM on July 7 in
Shangli County when 16 miners were working underground. Only one
escaped.
Local government sources said each family of the 15
victims received compensation of between 170,000 and 190,000 yuan
(US$21,000-23,500) yesterday.
All the dead miners were from villages nearby.
(China Daily, Xinhua News Agency
August 12, 2005)