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China Coal Mine Explosion Leaves 68 Dead, 80 Trapped
By Allen T. Cheng in Beijing
Bloomberg
28 November 2005
The death toll from a coal mine blast last night in China's northeastern province of Heilongjiang has climbed to 68 miners, with more than 80 still trapped underground, the State Administration for Work Safety said.
Around 220 miners were working underground when the explosion took place, the official Xinhua News Agency reported earlier. About 70 miners escaped and a 126-member rescue team is trying to save those remaining underground, it said.
Deaths from major coal mine accidents in China more than doubled to 1,159 in the first nine months as companies strained to meet demand in an economy that grown 9.5 percent a year for the last decade. The latest blast, which came hours after drinking-water supply was restored in the provincial capital of Harbin following a chemical spill, shows government messages on work safety aren't reaching some mine operators, said researcher Robin Munro.
"Despite a very high-level blitz of attention, it seems to be making very little difference," said Munro, Hong Kong-based research director of the China Labour Bulletin. "The message isn't getting through at the grass roots, solely because the mine owners and operators are focused entirely on making a quick buck."
The mine is run by the Qitaihe branch of the Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Group Co., which owns four major coal companies in the province, Xinhua said.
Mine Fatalities
China, the world's largest coal consumer, relies on the fuel for two-thirds of its energy needs and has one of the world's worst mine safety records. The country plans to shut more than 13,000 coal mines by 2010 to boost competitiveness and safety, Wu Yin, Director-General of the Energy Bureau at the National Development and Reform Commission, said in Beijing Nov. 1.
The fatality rate among Chinese miners for each million tons of coal produced reached 3.08 last year, Wu said. The government aims to cut this to less than 1.6 by 2010 as the industry consolidates. The government classifies a major mining accident as one that kills more than 10 people.
A preliminary investigation into last night's blast showed that a coal-dust explosion destroyed the ventilation system at the Heilongjiang pit, Xinhua reported.
Three million residents of Harbin all had water again by 6 p.m. yesterday, four days after officials shut off supply from the Songhua River because of contamination caused by a Nov. 13 chemical explosion at a PetroChina Co. plant. The blast killed five workers.
Worst Accident
In February, an explosion at a coal mine in the northeastern province of Liaoning killed more than 200, in the worst mining accident reported since Communist Party rule began in 1949.
In August, 123 miners died after a coal shaft flooded in the southern province of Guangdong. Rescue efforts were complicated after the mine's management fled the scene, a spokeswoman for the safety administration said.
Last year, 6,027 workers died in 3,639 coal mine accidents in China, according to the work safety administration. The number of deaths was 6.3 percent less than the previous year, it said.
The world's deadliest coal mining disaster took place in northeastern China in 1942, when an accident killed 1,549 miners.
China Coal Mine Explosion Leaves 68 Dead, 80 Trapped
By Allen T. Cheng in Beijing
Bloomberg
28 November 2005
The death toll from a coal mine blast last night in China's northeastern province of Heilongjiang has climbed to 68 miners, with more than 80 still trapped underground, the State Administration for Work Safety said.
Around 220 miners were working underground when the explosion took place, the official Xinhua News Agency reported earlier. About 70 miners escaped and a 126-member rescue team is trying to save those remaining underground, it said.
Deaths from major coal mine accidents in China more than doubled to 1,159 in the first nine months as companies strained to meet demand in an economy that grown 9.5 percent a year for the last decade. The latest blast, which came hours after drinking-water supply was restored in the provincial capital of Harbin following a chemical spill, shows government messages on work safety aren't reaching some mine operators, said researcher Robin Munro.
"Despite a very high-level blitz of attention, it seems to be making very little difference," said Munro, Hong Kong-based research director of the China Labour Bulletin. "The message isn't getting through at the grass roots, solely because the mine owners and operators are focused entirely on making a quick buck."
The mine is run by the Qitaihe branch of the Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Group Co., which owns four major coal companies in the province, Xinhua said.
Mine Fatalities
China, the world's largest coal consumer, relies on the fuel for two-thirds of its energy needs and has one of the world's worst mine safety records. The country plans to shut more than 13,000 coal mines by 2010 to boost competitiveness and safety, Wu Yin, Director-General of the Energy Bureau at the National Development and Reform Commission, said in Beijing Nov. 1.
The fatality rate among Chinese miners for each million tons of coal produced reached 3.08 last year, Wu said. The government aims to cut this to less than 1.6 by 2010 as the industry consolidates. The government classifies a major mining accident as one that kills more than 10 people.
A preliminary investigation into last night's blast showed that a coal-dust explosion destroyed the ventilation system at the Heilongjiang pit, Xinhua reported.
Three million residents of Harbin all had water again by 6 p.m. yesterday, four days after officials shut off supply from the Songhua River because of contamination caused by a Nov. 13 chemical explosion at a PetroChina Co. plant. The blast killed five workers.
Worst Accident
In February, an explosion at a coal mine in the northeastern province of Liaoning killed more than 200, in the worst mining accident reported since Communist Party rule began in 1949.
In August, 123 miners died after a coal shaft flooded in the southern province of Guangdong. Rescue efforts were complicated after the mine's management fled the scene, a spokeswoman for the safety administration said.
Last year, 6,027 workers died in 3,639 coal mine accidents in China, according to the work safety administration. The number of deaths was 6.3 percent less than the previous year, it said.
The world's deadliest coal mining disaster took place in northeastern China in 1942, when an accident killed 1,549 miners.