Five people have gone missing after a colliery gas explosion in
southwest China's Guizhou Province early on Tuesday, the local
workplace safety watchdog confirmed.
Eleven miners were working in the pit when the blast went off at
1:30?AM at the village-run Wuqiutian Mine in the city of
Fuquan, and six of them managed to escape, said a source with the
Guizhou Provincial Mining Safety Supervision Bureau.
He said rescue work is going on.
Wuqiutian Mine is designed to produce 30,000 tons a year and
holds no production safety permit.
Local authorities said plans are underway to merge such small
mines into bigger mining firms to improve productivity and
safety.
(Xinhua News Agency August 15, 2006)
