The Daping Coalmine disaster claimed 148 lives, following nearly a months search by rescue workers. 298 others managed to escape from the mine on the night of 20 October when the accident occurred.
The coalmine is owned by Zhengmei, a listed state-owned company based near Zhengzhou, the provincial capital of Henan. The death toll makes the Daping blast China's second deadliest mine accident after the Chenjiashan disaster on 28 November since 2000, when an underground explosion killed 162 workers in a coal mine in the southern province of Guizhou.
Workers interviewed by China Labour Bulletin said most of the miners in the Daping mine were temporary workers from the countryside.
The wife of missing miner Zhou Rangyu told CLB that her husband went to work at the coal-face because his farming plot had been occupied by the mine. Our land was taken away by the mining company for building houses. More than 60 families land was taken away in a land seizure programme. We dont even have a place to live now, she said.
After working all month without a single day off, her husband had been able to earn a monthly salary of only 1,000 Yuan at most. After the accident, she did not receive any news or explanation from the mining company about her husbands situation, nor did anyone from the mines trade union visit her. The mine was blocked. Nobody could get in. When I called [the mines office], the person who answered the call simply said, Wait at home for our call she said.
A staff member of the mines trade union told CLB that union staff were busy consoling victims families, and that families who lived in other areas in the province were on their way to the coalmine. We have gone to meet the miners families. I dont know any news about the accident. News is blocked and nobody is allowed to get into the mine and some office buildings, he said.
A nurse from Number 2 Surgical Ward of Zhengmei Hospital, which is run by the mining company, told CLB that three miners were transferred to her ward with carbon monoxide poisoning, although they were not seriously injured. A nurse from Number 4 Surgical Ward said seven miners transferred to her ward were all in critical condition. She said two of them had burned windpipes from breathing toxic gas.
A teacher of a kindergarten run by the mining company told CLB that there were two four-year-old children in her class whose fathers were among the missing miners. She said she didnt know how to explain to the children about what had happened. They are too young to understand and I dont know what to tell them. she said.
According to the latest statistics of the State Administration of Work Safety, coal mine accidents resulting from grossly inadequate safety supervision caused 5,286 deaths from January to November this year; in other words, about 16 deaths a day. Official figures state that there were more than 6,702 deaths related to coal mine accidents in 2003.
Shocking death toll prompts central government officials to launch investigation of the accident
Zhao Tiechui, deputy head of the State Administration of Work Safety, was quoted as saying that mine operators had failed to realize that further extension of the mine would greatly increase the amount of gas in the shaft, which was more than 1000 metres underground.
Mainland experts in coalmine facilities cited inefficient ventilation which increased gas density as one of the causes of the disaster. The investigation revealed that the explosion had been triggered by sparks from engine ignition in a tunnel where high-density gas had mixed with fresh air.
The blast ravaged three underground mining zones. The ensuing collapse had blocked the tunnels and damaged electric cables and transport equipment. Both the temperature and the density of the harmful gas were so high that it made rescue work difficult, according to Liu Xinshu, head of the Zhengmei rescue brigade.
Rescuers restored 12 underground ventilation stations and cleared debris at 11 collapsed tunnel sections. They said that at times they had been up to their waists in water of about 60 degrees Celsius, and breathing air permeated with poisonous gas.
Sources: China Labour Bulletin, Xinhua News Agency, Associated Press
To listen to the radio broadcast of the views of some injured workers families about the accident and to read our English transcripts of their views, please click the following links:
Gas Explosion at Daping Coalmine Killed more than 100 Miners, Xinmi City, Henan (I)
Gas Explosion at Daping Coalmine Killed more than 100 Miners, Xinmi City, Henan (II)
21 December 2004