In a bid to curb the rise of fatal workplace accidents, All 17 gas-rich coalmines in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have been installed with advanced automatic gas monitors, with "teething problems" sorted out in November.

The Tiereke coalmine in Baicheng county is one of them. Five other gas-rich coalmines in the county have also been equipped with the similar apparatus.

This year alone, Xinjiang recorded a total of 159 cases across the region, claiming the lives of 196 miners. These figures were given by regional production safety officials at a conference held by the Xinjiang Coal Mine Industry Administration Bureau and Bureau of Xinjiang Coal Mine Safety Supervision on November 5.

In a bid to put a stop to this, the regional government invested 17 million yuan (about US$2 million) in an advanced gas monitoring system. The system monitors gas consistencies and volumes in mines and sends the data to the security administration office in real time. Once the gas consistency exceeds an approved limit, the system will automatically cut electricity supplies to prevent sparks.

Xinjiang is rich in coal resources with forecast reserves between 1.82 trillion and 2.19 trillion tons, or 40.5 percent of China's total.

(Xinhua News Agency, China.org.cn November 17, 2005)