China: Shanxi: 153 trapped miners could die of hunger and thirst

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China: Shanxi: 153 trapped miners could die of hunger and thirst

Rescuers try to drain flooded mineshafts to reach miners trapped for the past two days who could die from lack of oxygen or poisonous gases. The mine in question is presented as a first-class model of safety and efficiency. China leads the world in mining deaths.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

Beijing ? Rescuers have not yet reached 153 coal miners trapped two days ago in a flooded shaft in state-owned Wangjialing mine, Xiangning County, in Shanxi province. About a thousand rescue workers are working around the clock to pump out the water that rushed in on Sunday evening. There is no certainty that anyone is still alive and rescue operation officials believe it will take days to explore the various mineshafts, which extend for several kilometres. The miners? ?situation until now is still unknown so that is making everyone very worried,? Liu Dezheng, a chief engineer with the Work Safety Bureau in Shanxi province, told the South China Morning Post.
The flood may have started on Sunday afternoon when workers dug into a network of old, water-filled shafts. According to the State Work Safety Administration, 261 workers were inside the mine when it flooded, and 108 were able to escape or were rescued.

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Re: China: Shanxi: 153 trapped miners could die of hunger and thirst

<CITE class=vcard>China safety body says rules ignored in mine flood

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<CITE class=vcard>By GILLIAN WONG, Associated Press Writer Gillian Wong, Associated Press Writer </CITE>? <ABBR class=timedate title=2010-03-31T03:17:37-0700>Wed Mar 31, 6:17 am ET</ABBR>
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XIANGNING, China ? Mine officials ignored safety rules and danger warnings in their haste to open a coal mine in northern China, leading to a flood that has trapped 153 workers since the weekend, a government safety body said Wednesday.

Officials say there have been no signs of life at the Wangjialing mine in Shanxi province since 108 miners escaped or were rescued following the flooding Sunday. Desperate relatives have traveled from afar to the site to demand that efforts to save the missing miners be speeded up.

About 1,000 rescuers have been working around the clock at the mine in southern Shanxi province, tunneling and laying pipes to drain away water, but hopes are fading.

The flood was triggered after workers who were tunneling broke through into an old shaft filled with water, the State Administration of Work Safety said in a notice posted on its Web site.

It also said the shaft became overcrowded as extra tunneling crews were assigned in a rush to finish the work, and that warning signs went unheeded.

"Water leaks were found numerous times on underground shafts," it said, but the mine's managers "did not follow the safety instructions or guidelines when the leaks were reported and did not take the actions necessary to evacuate people."

The preliminary findings confirm what some miners and state media have said in the days following the flood. The official China Daily reported Wednesday that managers of the company in charge of construction have gone missing. It said they were the ones who ignored alarms about water leaks.

/.../

More at:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100331/ap_on_re_as/as_china_mine_flood

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Re: China: Shanxi: 153 trapped miners could die of hunger and thirst

Rescuers ordered to enter China's flooded mine

Posted: 03 April 2010 1231 hrs
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Rescuers arrive at the Wangjialing coal mine, in northern China's Shanxi province


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BEIJING: Rescuers at a colliery in China have been ordered to enter a flooded mine shaft where 153 workers have been trapped for six days, state-run television reported Saturday.

The order came after rescuers at the Wangjialing coal mine heard a tapping sound coming up a pipe on Friday, bringing a glimmer of hope that some of the missing in the northern province of Shanxi had survived the flood on Sunday.

There have been no further signs of life since rescuers heard the tapping sound, state television said.

State media said divers were preparing to enter the flooded mine but did not say when they would go down the shaft.

At least 3,000 rescuers have been racing against time to pump water out of the vast coal mine and reach the missing workers.

Authorities had maintained a faint hope that some workers may have survived if they were working on platforms above danger levels, and Friday's news from the mine indicated this might have been the case.

Rescuers had inserted a pipe into the shaft as part of the rescue effort. When they took it out, an iron wire had been attached to it, apparently by one of the trapped, Xinhua quoted a rescue official as saying.

They have sent a bucket down the narrow hole with food provisions, pens, paper and communication equipment, Xinhua said.

The rescue effort comes at the end of what has been a disastrous week for China's notoriously dangerous mining sector.

Altogether, nearly 30 people have died and almost 200 are missing after five separate coal mining accidents in as many days.

Workers' safety is often ignored in China's collieries in the quest for quick profits and the drive to meet surging demand for coal -- the source of about 70 per cent of the country's energy.

In the latest incident, a fire in a coal mine in the northern province of Shaanxi killed nine people Thursday.

In the central province of Henan, a huge explosion at a coal mine that authorities said had been operating illegally killed at least 20 people on Wednesday.

Another 24 people were believed to be trapped underground in the mine. The boss had fled, prompting a huge manhunt by local police, state media said.

The blast was so powerful that several buildings near the mine shaft were flattened, with bits of clothes hanging from the trees, the official China Daily reported.

In the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, a flood had trapped five people at a colliery. And on the other side of the country, in the far-western region of Xinjiang, 10 were missing after a mine collapse.

If the workers in Shanxi are not saved, that accident will be the deadliest in China's coal mines in more than two years.
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http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_asiapacific/view/1047644/1/.html