A local official said yesterday that the number of miners
trapped in a flooded Guangdong colliery since Sunday may be higher
than the 102 previously reported.
"After a one-day investigation we still have not found the exact
number as many management staff have run away since the accident
occurred," said Chen Ganglin, deputy secretary of the Xingning
municipal?Party committee.
"But we have received more reports of missing miners from their
families," said Chen, who was assigned to assist anxious
relatives.
Chen added that Zeng Fanjin, the mine owner, and Luo Changxian,
its chief technical supervisor, are under investigation.
The local government issued a notice Monday for 65 missing
management workers to return to the mine to help enquiries.
More than 600 people have been organized to help the rescue
operations. Water levels in the mine have gradually dropped, but
rescue workers have found little sign of the miners who had been
working underground.
The accident occurred at 1:30 PM on Sunday in the
privately-owned Daxing Coal Mine, which the State Administration of
Coal Mine Safety said was unlicensed, and only four miners are
thought to have escaped.
The chances of survival for those trapped were described by
rescue workers yesterday as slim.
The mine is in Huanghuai Town, Xingning City in Meizhou
Prefecture of south China's Guangdong
Province.
(Xinhua News Agency August 9, 2005)