47 dead in explosion at illegally run mine
Source: Agencies/Shanghai Daily |
June 22, 2010, Tuesday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
AN explosion at an illegally operated mine in Henan, China's third-largest coal producing province, killed 47 miners yesterday, while another 28 narrowly escaped.
Six of the survivors were seriously burned, said the China News Service.
President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao demanded rescuers "exhaust all means possible" in relief efforts, and that a probe be conducted to ensure such a disaster not happen again, the central government said in a statement.
The 75 miners were trapped after stored explosives blew up at the Xingdong No. 2 Mine at about 1:40am in Pingdingshan in the central province of Henan.
The cause of the blast is not yet known.
Police have already detained mine owner Liu Jianguo and frozen the mine's bank account, Xinhua news agency reported.
Four Pingdingshan government officials have been fired after the mine disaster.
Liu had been ordered by the local government to stop production after mining permission expired on June 6.
However, he illegally reconnected the electricity that had been cut off and resumed work, according to an initial police investigation.
Many bodies of the victims had been lifted to ground level by last night.
Zhou Li, kneeling at the exit of the shaft, insisted on waiting for her husband Guo Xiujun.
The young couple moved to Henan in February from the eastern province of Shandong to earn more money, Xinhua said.
"He is just 29. How can I and my son survive without him?" said Zhou, weeping.
The privately owned mine has an annual production capacity of 90,000 tons.
Henan produced 208 million tons of coal in 2008, nearly 10 percent of the country's total output.
Last year, Pingdingshan government ordered all 157 shafts in the city to close after a pit explosion killed 54 people in September.
Due to strong demand for energy in a booming economy and lax safety standards, thousands of people are killed in China's mines every year - the world's deadliest mine-industry totals - despite government pledges to shut or consolidate many small or unsafe operations to help cut accidents.
The number of people killed in coal mines dropped to 2,631 in 2009 from 3,215 in 2008, according to official statistics.
Six of the survivors were seriously burned, said the China News Service.
President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao demanded rescuers "exhaust all means possible" in relief efforts, and that a probe be conducted to ensure such a disaster not happen again, the central government said in a statement.
The 75 miners were trapped after stored explosives blew up at the Xingdong No. 2 Mine at about 1:40am in Pingdingshan in the central province of Henan.
The cause of the blast is not yet known.
Police have already detained mine owner Liu Jianguo and frozen the mine's bank account, Xinhua news agency reported.
Four Pingdingshan government officials have been fired after the mine disaster.
Liu had been ordered by the local government to stop production after mining permission expired on June 6.
However, he illegally reconnected the electricity that had been cut off and resumed work, according to an initial police investigation.
Many bodies of the victims had been lifted to ground level by last night.
Zhou Li, kneeling at the exit of the shaft, insisted on waiting for her husband Guo Xiujun.
The young couple moved to Henan in February from the eastern province of Shandong to earn more money, Xinhua said.
"He is just 29. How can I and my son survive without him?" said Zhou, weeping.
The privately owned mine has an annual production capacity of 90,000 tons.
Henan produced 208 million tons of coal in 2008, nearly 10 percent of the country's total output.
Last year, Pingdingshan government ordered all 157 shafts in the city to close after a pit explosion killed 54 people in September.
Due to strong demand for energy in a booming economy and lax safety standards, thousands of people are killed in China's mines every year - the world's deadliest mine-industry totals - despite government pledges to shut or consolidate many small or unsafe operations to help cut accidents.
The number of people killed in coal mines dropped to 2,631 in 2009 from 3,215 in 2008, according to official statistics.
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