Ten people are dead after two coal mine accidents in China on
Wednesday, according to local government reports available on
Thursday.
A gas leak at 11:00 AM in?northern Henan Province killed six miners, a manager,
and a technician, the Henan provincial coal mine safety supervision
bureau said without giving details.
The mine in Jiayu Town, in the City of Xingyang, had been shut
down for a safety overhaul, but its management illegally resumed
operations, an investigator with the provincial coal mine
administration told Xinhua.
The second tragedy at a mine in Zhongwei City, in northwestern
Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, saw two miners
killed and two injured in a cave-in.
The injured were out of danger Thursday morning, according to
sources with the city hospital.
Investigators said the mine, run by the local government of
Changle Town, was fully licensed and had a production permit.
Coal mine accidents killed 357 people in China in the first two
months of this year, according to the State Administration of Work
Safety. It said 4,746 people died in 2,845 coal mine accidents last
year, an average of 13 deaths a day.
At least 22 people died last Saturday when a pit belonging to a
major state-owned mining company in northeastern Liaoning Province was flooded.
(Xinhua News Agency March 15, 2007)