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March 5, 2003
CHINA: LATEST COAL MINE EXPLOSION RESULTS IN SCORES OF DEATHS
The China Labor Bulletin reports February 26 that a huge explosion February 24
rocked the Muchonggou coal mine in Guizhou province, killing up to 40 miners and
injuring scores of others. This latest explosion comes just days after another
mine explosion in Shanxi province killed 14 people. The explosion at Muchonggou
mine is the second deadly disaster at the mine, on 27 September 2000, a similar
explosion killed some 162 miners out of a total workforce of about 241.
The China Labor Bulletin quotes the China Youth Daily as saying that the
Muchonggou mine was notorious for its mismanagement, its poor finances and the
frequent breakdown of electrical equipment.
Official sources reportedly said that the explosion killed 35 miners and injured
18. However, CLB reports that a hospital doctor told the Bulletin that he had
received instructions that no injured miner was to be allowed to talk to the
media about the incident. This unconscionable silencing of accident victims
demonstrates the Chinese authorities' lack of transparency and their fear that
the outside world will learn the true scale and causes of the Muchonggou
disaster, said Han Dongfang, CLB's Director. The authorities must allow the
miners, and also the families of the dead and injured, to express their dismay
at this appalling waste of life and to provide advice on how such accidents can
be prevented in future. Without the direct involvement of the workers
themselves, there is little prospect of an end to the continual cycle of
explosions and deaths that afflict the Chinese mining industry, said Han.
CLB purports that the root of the problem lies in the reform of the coal mining
industry in recent years, and in the current managerial system whereby mine
managers are subcontracted to run the mines on a short-term profit basis and at
the expense of basic worker safety.
World Monitors
450 Lexington Avenue, Ste. 3800
New York, NY 10017 USA
tel 1 212 551 2637
fax 1 212 490 2574
www.worldmonitors.com
March 5, 2003
CHINA: LATEST COAL MINE EXPLOSION RESULTS IN SCORES OF DEATHS
The China Labor Bulletin reports February 26 that a huge explosion February 24
rocked the Muchonggou coal mine in Guizhou province, killing up to 40 miners and
injuring scores of others. This latest explosion comes just days after another
mine explosion in Shanxi province killed 14 people. The explosion at Muchonggou
mine is the second deadly disaster at the mine, on 27 September 2000, a similar
explosion killed some 162 miners out of a total workforce of about 241.
The China Labor Bulletin quotes the China Youth Daily as saying that the
Muchonggou mine was notorious for its mismanagement, its poor finances and the
frequent breakdown of electrical equipment.
Official sources reportedly said that the explosion killed 35 miners and injured
18. However, CLB reports that a hospital doctor told the Bulletin that he had
received instructions that no injured miner was to be allowed to talk to the
media about the incident. This unconscionable silencing of accident victims
demonstrates the Chinese authorities' lack of transparency and their fear that
the outside world will learn the true scale and causes of the Muchonggou
disaster, said Han Dongfang, CLB's Director. The authorities must allow the
miners, and also the families of the dead and injured, to express their dismay
at this appalling waste of life and to provide advice on how such accidents can
be prevented in future. Without the direct involvement of the workers
themselves, there is little prospect of an end to the continual cycle of
explosions and deaths that afflict the Chinese mining industry, said Han.
CLB purports that the root of the problem lies in the reform of the coal mining
industry in recent years, and in the current managerial system whereby mine
managers are subcontracted to run the mines on a short-term profit basis and at
the expense of basic worker safety.
World Monitors
450 Lexington Avenue, Ste. 3800
New York, NY 10017 USA
tel 1 212 551 2637
fax 1 212 490 2574
www.worldmonitors.com