The relatives of each victim in a coal mine blast that killed
105 miners in north China's Shanxi Province will receive
215,000-yuan (US$29,054) compensation, Xinhua news agency reported
today.
Seventy-two families have received compensation thus far and 19
families have returned to their hometowns, said the report.
The compensation covered 200,000 yuan for economic loss, 10,000
yuan for travel and body burial and 5,000 yuan for a funeral, Zhao
Shuangbao, vice head of Hongdong County, where the accident
occurred, said in the report.
Meng Xuenong, acting governor of Shanxi, apologized to the
families on behalf of the provincial government, said the
report.
The families also received the miners' back wages from
September, according to the report.
The explosion broke out at the village-run Xinyao mine in
Hongtong on December 5 with 128 miners underground. Eighteen miners
were rescued and five are still missing.
It was the second deadliest mining accident so far this year. In
August, 181 miners died when heavy rain flooded two mines in
Shandong Province.
(Shanghai Daily, December 11, 2007)