|
China mine explosion kills 203
(14th February, 2005)
At least 203 miners were killed, 22 injured and 13 trapped in a coal mine gas explosion Monday afternoon in Fuxin, a city in northeast China's Liaoning Province.
Zhang Yunfu, deputy general manager of the Fuxin coal industry group, said the work operation was normal Monday morning, and a coal mine quake took place at 2:50 p.m. at the No.3316 working face of Sunjiawan colliery of the Fuxin coal industry group. The designed yearly production capacity of Sunjiawan colliery is 1.5 million tons. The gas blast occurred at about 3:00 p.m. about 242 meters underground.
Rescue operation began immediately and further investigation is underway.
Officials from the provincial government, Fuxin and other relevant departments have rushed to the mine. The sources said about 574 people were in the colliery Monday morning, 336 people went out of the colliery at 2 p.m., and there were 238 coal miners in the colliery when the disaster happened at 3 p.m..
Monday's blast was the deadliest since 166 miners were killed in a gas explosion at the Chenjiashan mine in Shaanxi province in November. China has two kinds of mines: big, state-run operations, which are generally thought to be safer, and smaller private mines where the majority of deaths occur.
Correspondents say energy shortages mean the price of coal has gone up, leading some unscrupulous mine operators to cut corners to increase production. China last year produced 35% of the world's coal but reported 80% of global deaths in colliery accidents.
|
