China Labour Bulletin appears in the following article. Copyright remains with the original publisher.
Chinese mine incident is investigated
RTÉ (Ireland's Public Service Broadcaster)
21 May 2006 12:55
Forty-four miners remain trapped in a flooded pit in northern China amid claims that managerial staff at the mine tried to cover-up the incident.
The flooding at the Xinjing Coal Mine, in Shanxi province, occurred on Thursday night while 145 miners were working in the mine.
A total of 101 miners managed to escape, leaving the other 44 trapped, but management of the mine initially said only five were missing.
It is understood staff tried to ship out relatives of the trapped miners in taxis, hoping to transport them to the nearby region of Inner Mongolia, to prevent them from talking to the press or rioting.
Police have arrested nine managers at the mine.
China's coal mines are regarded as the most dangerous in the world, with 5,986 workers dying in the industry last year, according to official figures.
Labour rights groups, such as the Hong Kong-based China Labour Bulletin, say the real number of mining deaths could be as high as 20,000 each year.