Henan coal-mine blast kills 35
- Source: Global Times
- [02:58 September 09 2009]
- Comments
Rescuers wait outside the Xinhua No. 4 coal mine where a gas explosion occurred early yesterday in Pingdingshan, Henan Province. Photo: Xinhua
By Song Shengxia
At least 35 miners are dead and 44 were still missing last night after a coal-mine explosion rocked the central China city of Pingdingshan, in Henan Province, early Tuesday morning.
The explosion occurred around 1 am at the Xinhua No. 4 mine, an official with the local work-safety agency told the Global Times.
Among the 93 miners who were working in the pit when the blast occurred, only 14 managed to escape. A locally run venture, the mine has an annual production capacity of 150,000 tons, but the operator had not been cleared to resume operations, as the company was said by local authorities to be under restructuring.
As of press time, rescuers were still trying to get to the trapped miners.
Qi Tongyan, a deputy head in charge of work safety in Xinhua District of Pingdingshan, and Zhang Xizhi, an official with the city's coal bureau, were sacked for negligence, according to the China News Service.
Li Xinjun, the owner of the mine, and two managers were arrested by the police.
The explosion caught the attention of the nation's leaders, President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang, leading a government delegation, arrived in Pingdingshan 12 hours after the incident to oversee the rescue efforts, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
"Leaders of the State Administration of Work Safety, including director Luo Lin and vice director Zhao Tiechui, have also arrived at the scene of the accident," an official surnamed Guo with the Pingdingshan Work Safety Bureau, told the Global Times.
The provincial government also issued an notice Tuesday, ordering the city's 157 coal mines to suspend production pending a safety overhaul.
The investigation into the explosion is still ongoing, but Guo said it was believed to have been fueled by natural gas.
"In gas-explosion accidents, the chances of those workers trapped in the pit being rescued are slim because of suffocating toxic gas," Fang Xinqiu, an associate professor of automated mining at the China University of Mining and Technology, told the Global Times. "Illegal mining by small coal-mine owners was to blame for the accident."
