Thirty-three people were confirmed dead in a gas explosion, which
also injured six, at a coal mine in central China's
Henan
Province?Friday, according to local safety authorities.
The six injured, including two in critical condition, were sent to
hospital.
"Rescue work was already finished by the afternoon. Now all
efforts are concentrated on an investigation into the cause and
condolences," said an official surnamed Chen with Henan Work Safety
Bureau.
The blast occurred at the Xincheng Coal Mine in Liangwa Town in
Lushan County about noon on Thursday.
According to Chen, the original coal mine site there was closed
in 2001.
However, Li Wei, head of the Xincheng Coal Mine, subcontracted
the site to a local private mine owner in September, who soon began
organizing illegal mining.
Both Li Wei and the mine keeper have been detained.
"There is still no idea of how many miners were working under
the ground when the explosion took place," Chen said.
Most of the employees of the mine are local residents, the
Xinhua New Agency quoted Zhang Jufeng, director of the local coal
mine bureau, as saying.
The State Administration of Work Safety (SAWS) announced
yesterday on its website that a coal mine safety inspection will be
conducted across the area.
The local government has ordered 400-odd coal mines in the area
to stop production for a week for a complete inspection.
On the day of the accident , a two-day nationwide conference on
coal mine safety began in Beijing.
State Councilor Hua Jianmin said at the meeting that China will
take tough measures to rectify problems in the coal mine industry
this winter.
And SAWS said the spotlight will be shown upon gas safety
difficulties, emphasizing that miners are not allowed to go
underground without taking a self-rescue equipment, which may
provide miners with some oxygen once an explosion occurs.
According to Director of SAWS Wang Xianzheng, there are
currently about 9,000 high-density gas coal mines in China,
accounting for 30 percent of the total.
In the first nine months of this year, the nation witnessed 386
coal mine gas explosions, claiming 1,150 lives, Wang said.
Last month, Henan saw a gas explosion at Daping coal mine, which
killed 147 miners.
Two days after the tragedy, the Provincial Coal Industrial
Bureau issued a notice urging all coal mines to be immediately
inspected for hidden dangers and to build up a professional gas
monitoring team to guarantee the safety of miners.
(China Daily November 14, 2004)