Search for survivors of China mine blast
Rescue crews were searching for Chinese coal miners missing today after a gas explosion killed 203 people in the deadliest mining disaster reported since communist rule began in 1949.
The explosion at the Sunjiawan mine on Monday left 12 men trapped underground and injured 28 others with carbon monoxide poisoning, burns and fractures, the official Xinhua News Agency reported.
One trapped miner was rescued this afternoon, 24 hours after the blast.
The cause of the explosion was under investigation, Xinhua said. It said the disaster occurred almost 800 feet below the surface.
President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders issued orders for local officials “to spare no effort to rescue those stranded in the mine”. They called for “strict measures” to prevent any more such disasters.
A government team headed by a member of the cabinet went to the mine in Liaoning province to help find the missing, treat the injured and prepare compensation for victims’ families, Xinhua said.
Rescuers in the far north-eastern province were faced with roads made wet by an overnight snowfall and below freezing temperatures.
China has suffered a string of deadly mining disasters in recent months despite a nationwide safety campaign.
A blast in the northern province of Shaanxi in November killed 166 miners. Another explosion in October killed 148. Before that, the deadliest reported mining accident in recent years was a fire in southern China that killed 162 miners in 2000.
China’s mines are by far the world’s deadliest, with more than 6,000 deaths last year in mine floods, explosions and fires. The government says China accounted for 80% of all coal mining deaths worldwide last year.
Experts say new safety laws have not been matched with adequate education or enforcement, and blame China’s booming economy for tempting mine owners and workers to cut corners.
In 1942, north-east China was the site of the world’s deadliest coal mining disaster when an accident killed 1,549 miners in Japanese-occupied Manchuria.
