Rescuers have recovered the bodies of another five miners who
were trapped in Saturday's gas blast in a coal mine in Linfen, a
coal-rich city in Shanxi Province, north China, bringing the
confirmed death toll to 28.
The fate of other two trapped miners is not known yet as rescue
efforts continue, according to rescue headquarters.
About 100 rescuers are trying to provide ventilation to the
shafts, they said.
"Rescue work is quite difficult since the shaft is still filled
with smoke," said Zhao Tiechui, director of the State
Administration for Coal Mine Safety Supervision, at the scene on
Sunday.
The gas blast occurred around 1:50 PM on Saturday at Pudeng Coal
Mine in Kecheng Town of Puxian County where 125 miners were
working.
Ninety-five miners, including 23 who were injured, escaped. Most
of the injured miners suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning and
are in stable condition in the nearby town hospital.
"I heard a bang and then ventilation stopped at my working
platform underground," said Ma Hongbing, who was then 600 meters
far from the blast site. "I immediately organized my fellow miners
at the platform to flee."
Ma helped 31 trapped miners manage to flee, but he suffered
carbon monoxide poisoning and is still receiving treatment.
Li Junping, from nearby Hubei Province, was digging coal about 500
meters from the site of the blast. "I was knocked over by a huge
wave, but I knew I had to get up and go. It was like I was drunk
and I finally tumbled out of the mine," he said.
"I stumbled and fell unconscious when I tried to run out of the
shaft. The next thing I knew I was in the hospital. It was a
nightmare," said Wang Liucheng, who was one of the last survivors
to be rescued.
The initial rescue operation by the miners lasted two hours
until heavy smoke made it impossible to continue.
Rescue efforts organized by local governments started two hours
after the blast occurred as mine managers did not report the
accident in time.
The mine was ordered on April 29 not to resume production until
it was officially approved to do so. The special coal mine
administration office of Puxian County had found it had many safety
problems and demanded improvement.
But the mine's managers restarted production without any
official permit on Friday in the southern mining area whose
ventilation was quite poor.
"The coal mine was in a mess and under poor management," said
the provincial work safety watchdog, adding that the 125 miners who
were working underground at the time of the blast had been hired by
five different mining contractors.
The mine had an approved production capacity of 150,000 tons and
only 44 miners were allowed to be underground according to safety
regulations. The mine was set up in 1986 by a village and became a
private venture in 2004.
Local police have put the coal mine owner and several managers
under surveillance. Provincial officials have ordered an
investigation into the explosion.
Ninety-five rescuers are still working in shifts to search the
missing.
The Pudeng explosion is the second colliery accident within six
days in Shanxi, China's largest coal producing province. On Monday,
a blast in an illegal mine at Liujiacun Village, Yuxian County,
killed 14 people.
Shanxi boasts of coal reserves topping 264 billion tons,
amounting to 26 percent of the national figure. It produces about
600 million tons of coal a year.
(Xinhua News Agency May 8, 2007)