Continue reading »]]> A gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in northern China on Sunday, killing at least 73 miners and trapping dozens in the still-burning shaft, state media said.

China’s mines are the world’s most dangerous with more than 3,000 deaths a year in fires, floods and explosions.

The pre-dawn blast occurred while 436 workers were in the Tunlan Coal Mine in Gujiao city near Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, the official Xinhua News Agency said.

At least 73 miners died and 113 were hospitalized, including 21 in critical condition, Xinhua said. It did not say how many workers remained trapped in the shaft but earlier reports said at least 65 were still underground.

State television CCTV showed rescuers in orange suits and red helmets with headlamps entering an elevator to be lowered into the mine shaft, while others emerged from the mine carrying workers on stretchers toward waiting ambulances.

Nearly 100 rescuers were onsite but their work was hampered by flames still burning in the shaft, CCTV said.

The injured miners were suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, Xinhua reported, citing doctors at a nearby hospital. Exposure to carbon monoxide, an odorless, colorless gas, can lead to death.

The mine is owned by Shanxi Coking Coal Group, one of China’s largest producers of coking coal, which is used in the production of steel. The company operates 28 mines.

No accidents have been reported at the Tunlan mine in the past decade, Xinhua said. The mine produces 5 million tons of coking coal a year.

Although China has worked to cut mine accidents by closing more than 1,000 dangerous small mines last year, the country’s mining industry is still the world’s deadliest. About 3,200 people died in coal mine accidents last year, a 15 percent decline from the previous year.

While China’s safety record is abysmal, the numbers mask great disparities. Large, state-run mines tend to have safety records nearing those of developed countries while smaller mines have little or no safety equipment and weak worker training.

Government figures show that almost 80 percent of China’s 16,000 mines are small, illegal operations.

73 miners die, 113 injured in China mine blast

Continue reading »]]> Thirty-two of 34 workers trapped in the flooding of a central China mine have been rescued, China’s state-run Xinhua news agency reported Tuesday.

One worker died, and the last was missing, Xinhua said. The rescued workers were rushed to a hospital and were in “poor” condition, according to the news agency.

The mine in Pingdingshan, a city in Henan province, flooded Monday, according to China’s State Administration of Work Safety. Forty-two miners were working in the mine at the time; eight escaped, according to Xinhua.

Wang Dexue, head of the Administration of Work Safety, told Xinhua the mine, known as the Gaomendong Coal Mine, was operating illegally. Its owner, Lou Gaofeng, was detained. Wang said Lou failed to report that miners found water seeping into the mine before the flood, and also waited two hours after the flood occurred to report it, according to Xinhua.

More than 800 people participated in rescue operations at the mine, located in Jiaxian County, Xinhua said.

China has suffered a string of deadly mining disasters in recent years despite a nationwide safety

CNN.com

Continue reading »]]> BEIJING, China (AP) — Chinese state media say at least 36 people have been killed in two mine accidents.

The official Xinhua News Agency said Sunday that 31 people were killed and nine others were missing after a gas explosion in a private mine near Dengfeng city in Henan province in central China.

It said five miners were killed and 26 were still missing after a coal mine fire in Heilongjiang province in northeast China.