The families of the 32 miners killed in a coal mine gas
explosion in southwest China's Yunnan Province are to receive compensation,
local sources said Monday.
Each family will receive 200,000 yuan (US$ 25,000). To date 20
families have been given the money while the other 12, most of them
in the nearby Sichuan Province or Chongqing Municipality, will be paid soon.
The blast occurred at about 5:17 PM Saturday at Changyuan Coal
Mine in Fuyang when 97 miners were changing shifts. Thirty-seven
escaped unhurt and 28 were injured but none are in
danger.?
The mine is a privately owned business established more than two
years ago. Its owner, a local named Yan Bangru, has been detained.
It's alleged the mine operated in defiance of the county
government's order to close.
In another mine accident that left 32 dead on Sunday at Luweitan
Colliery in north China's Shanxi Province?eight miners had been
rescued by 10:00 PM Monday and taken to a local hospital. None of
them were seriously hurt.
Chinese coal mines suffer frequent explosions, flooding and
cave-ins, claiming around 6,000 lives a year. Unsafe, small mines
account for two-thirds of fatalities.
(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2006)