China says 42 dead, 66 trapped in mine explosion

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China says 42 dead, 66 trapped in mine explosion

<!--//Byline box//-->By Associated Press
Saturday, November 21, 2009

Photo by AP
In this photo released by China?s Xinhua News Agency, rescuers go down the exploded coal mine in Hegang City, northeast China?s Heilongjiang Province, on Saturday evening.

BEIJING ? A gas explosion tore through a state-run coal mine in northern China on Saturday, killing 42 people and leaving 66 others trapped underground as rescuers worked hastily to save them.

China?s mines are the world?s deadliest, and the blast shows the difficulties the government faces in trying to boost safety in an industry where large state-owned coal mines are considered safer than smaller, private ones.

A total of 528 people were working in the Xinxing mine in Heilongjiang province at the time of the 2:30 a.m. explosion, the State Administration of Work Safety said in a statement. It said 389 escaped after the blast.

China Central Television reported that 42 were dead, 31 rescued and the others trapped about a third of a mile underground. The report said the explosion was caused by a gas buildup.

Television footage showed smoke billowing out of the mine, with a collapsed building nearby.

The report said power, ventilation and communication links in the mine were cut by the explosion, hampering rescue efforts.

A man answering the phone at the mine said an unknown number of people were injured. He did not want to give his name, as is common among Chinese officials.

The mine is located near the border with Russia, about 250 miles northeast of the provincial capital, Harbin.

It is run by one of China?s top 520 state-owned enterprises, according to the Web site of its owner, the Hegang branch of the Heilongjiang Longmei Holding Mining Group. It says the Hegang branch has more than 88,000 employees.

China depends heavily on coal to generate about three-quarters of its electricity needs.

The government has been cracking down on unregulated mining operations, which account for almost 80 percent of the country?s 16,000 mines.

The closure of about 1,000 dangerous small mines last year helped to cut in half the average number of miners killed, to about six a day, in the first six months of this year, the government has said.

Major gas explosions in coal mines remain a problem, though the number of accidents and deaths have gradually declined year by year, the chief of the State Administration of Work Safety, Luo Lin, told a national conference in September.

In the first nine months of this year, China?s coal mines had 11 major accidents with 303 deaths, with gas explosions the leading cause, according to the central government.

Most accidents are blamed on failures to follow safety rules, including a lack of required ventilation or fire control equipment.

A blast at the Tunlan coal mine in northern China?s Shanxi province killed 77 people in February in China?s worst industrial accident in a year.

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Re: China says 42 dead, 66 trapped in mine explosion

China mine explosion death toll reaches 92


By Maxim Duncan, Reuters
November 22, 2009 9:38 AM



Colleagues wait for information of trapped miners at Xinxing coal mine following a gas explosion at the mine in Hegang, Heilongjiang Province, Nov. 22, 2009. The death toll from China's latest coal mine disaster reached 87 as hopes dimmed on Sunday that more survivors would be found a day after a gas blast at a colliery in the country's far northeast.Photograph by: Aly Song, Reuters



HEGANG, China -- The death toll from China's latest coal mine disaster reached 92 on Sunday, state television said, and hopes dimmed that more survivors would emerge after a gas blast at a colliery in the nation's far northeast.

Chinese television news said 528 workers were in the mine at Hegang in Heilongjiang province when the blast erupted in the early hours of Saturday, and 420 had been rescued by Sunday.

Some 16 miners remained trapped or unaccounted for, the evening news broadcast said.

Reporters in Hegang were taken by officials to see 20 or so rescue workers descending into a tunnel still belching smoke, preparing to scour tunnels for survivors or bodies.

Zhang Fucheng, an official in charge of rescue efforts, told Chinese television that efforts had been held up by gas and collapsed tunnels.

Temperatures throughout the day were near freezing.

The blast was the latest big accident to hit the world's deadliest major coal mining industry. The explosion was so violent that nearby buildings partly collapsed.

Some of the survivors were badly injured.

"When I saw my husband, this mess of blood and flesh, I didn't recognise him at first," said Huang Guizhen, the wife of injured miner Qu Zhongliang, a Heilongjiang province news website (www.northeast.com.cn) reported.

"Then the doctor told me it was my husband and I burst into tears."

Compared to other manual jobs, Chinese coal miners can earn relatively high wages, tempting workers and farmers into rickety and poorly ventilated shafts.

Safety staff knew gas in the mine had reached dangerous levels and were rushing to evacuate the miners when the blast erupted 500 metres (1,500 feet) below ground, the website report also said, citing workers at the mine.

Central government prosecutors went to Hegang to oversee investigations into any possible crimes or official misconduct behind the blast, the China News Service reported.

Zhang Jinguang, a mine company spokesman, told Reuters that "as far as I know, there were no signs (of the accident beforehand)".

Police in Hegang kept a close eye on locals near the mine, and people organised by the government sought to prevent reporters speaking to residents.

"There's no hope", said one resident who said two friends were victims of the blast.

"One in hospital hasn't woken up yet, and the other, Wang Gang, still hasn't come out (out of the mine)", said the resident, who gave only her surname, Yu.

The Xinxing mine in Hegang lies near China's border with Russia and produced over a million tonnes of coal in the first 10 months of this year, local reports said. It is owned by the Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Holding Group, making it larger than most operations where colliery accidents occur.

In the first half of this year, 1,175 people died in officially recorded coal mine accidents across China, a fall of 18.4 percent compared to the same time last year, according to the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety.

An explosion in a mine in central Henan province in September left 79 workers dead or missing and likely dead. In 2005, an coal mine explosion in northeast Liaoning province killed 214.

Nor have Hegang's coal mines had a spotless record.

Earlier state media reports showed that in three accidents - one in 2002 and two last year - a total of 88 miners died.

http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/China+mine+explosion+death+toll+reaches/2248685/story.html

 

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Hopes dim as China mine toll rises to 104

Hopes dim as China mine toll rises to 104

Hopes dim as China mine toll rises to 104


By Marianne Barriaux, Agence France-PresseNovember 22, 2009 7:03 PM


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More Images ?


A blown up mine vent still emits smoke after a blast at a mine near Hegang in northeast China's Heilongjiang province on November 22, 2009.

Photograph by: STR, AFP/Getty Images

HEGANG, China - Hopes of finding more survivors from a huge coal mine blast in China took a blow Monday with the recovery of 12 bodies, raising the death toll to 104 in the nation?s worst mining disaster in two years.

Rescuers were braving mine shafts full of toxic gas in a desperate search for four workers still missing in the mine in Hegang city in northeast China, as grieving relatives of the victims angrily demanded answers.

"Rescue operations are still continuing. If we haven?t found them yet we believe they are still alive," mine spokesman Zeng Jinguang told reporters, confirming the latest death toll.

"If there is any chance of finding them we will not give up."

The explosion tore through the state-run mine in Heilongjiang province near the Russian border early Saturday after a build-up of gas, the latest tragedy in the country?s notoriously dangerous mining industry.

Smoke could still be seen on Monday billowing out of an entrance to the mine, one of the largest and oldest in China, as authorities turned to the task of dealing with the relatives.

Zeng said psychologists were being brought in to help survivors and relatives of victims cope with the disaster.

A group of women waited outside an entrance to the mine office in sub-zero temperatures, crying and shouting in despair.

"I haven?t had any news. My husband was only 42," wailed one of the women, tears streaming down her face.

A second woman also complained that her family had received no information about the fate of her younger brother, who was in the mine at the time of the accident.

"It was my little brother. It?s been three days and still we haven?t had any news," she cried.

The women, who would not provide their names to AFP, were later escorted into the mine office.

The accident was the worst in energy-hungry China since an explosion killed 105 miners in Shanxi province in December 2007.

A total of 528 miners were in the pit when the blast occurred, according to the State Administration of Work Safety, and local news reports said it was so powerful it was felt 10 kilometres (six miles) away.

Mine spokesman Zeng said none of the more than 60 people who were hospitalised after the explosion were in life-threatening condition.

Chinese media reports have quoted survivors saying they were frantically trying to flee the mine amid a gas build-up when the explosion occurred.

On Saturday, President Hu Jintao and Prime Minister Wen Jiabao issued orders to take all measures to rescue workers at Hegang.

The head, deputy head and chief engineer of the mine, which is run by the majority state-owned Heilongjiang Longmay Mining Holding Group, have been removed from their posts, the China News Service reported.

State media reports also have said an investigation would be launched into whether negligence played a part in the disaster.

China?s coal mines are among the most dangerous in the world, with safety standards often ignored in the quest for profits and the drive to meet surging demand for coal ? the source of about 70 percent of China?s energy.

Official figures show that more than 3,200 workers died in collieries last year. But independent labour groups say the actual figure could be much higher, as accidents are often covered up to avoid costly mine shutdowns.


http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Hopes+China+mine+toll+rises/2248685/story.html

 

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Re: China says 42 dead, 66 trapped in mine explosion

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</TD></TR><TR><TD id=ss-caption colSpan=3>Relatives of miners who were killed in a gas explosion cry at the entrance of Xinxing Coal Mine in Hegang, Heilongjiang province, China, Monday, Nov. 23, 2009. The death toll two days later was up to 104, with four still missing, the official Xinhua news agency said Monday. The accident Saturday was the deadliest in China's mining industry for two years, and has highlighted how heavy demand for power-generating coal comes at a high human cost. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

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Official: China mine that exploded was too crowded

By CARA ANNA (AP) ? 43 minutes ago

HEGANG, China ? The coal mine that exploded in northern China, killing 104, had too many workers underground in an effort to increase output, a government official said Monday, exposing the risks often taken to meet the country's insatiable energy demands.

The weekend gas explosion ? China's worst mining accident in two years ? was a blow to the government's recent efforts to improve safety standards in the industry, the deadliest in the world.

Grieving relatives, who wailed at the gate of the Xinxing mining office Monday morning, were shocked that the such a blast could occur at one of China's state-run mines, which the government has promoted as being safer that smaller, privately run concerns.

"We thought the state mines were safe. Why did he die?" Liu Shujiu asked a reporter who was allowed into the mining complex. Liu's 38-year-old husband Zhang Shulai was among the victims. The couple have a 9-year-old daughter. "How do I tell her that her father is not coming home?"

But even as officials hustled to calm the families, miners idled near the shafts in their battered work clothes, waiting for word that their shifts might start again.

"Economic necessity," one said, his words steaming in the frigid air.

China's hunger for energy cuts closest to the bone in places like Hegang, an aging industrial city near the Russian border where the economy runs on coal. The country uses coal to meet three-fourths of its electricity needs.

Officials have said 528 miners were underground when the Xinxing mine exploded after a gas leak. Most escaped, but 104 were confirmed dead and an additional four were missing and feared dead, the official Xinhua News Agency reported Monday.

The head of China's State Administration of Work Safety told the official Xinhua News Agency that the mine's management failed to evacuate workers promptly, but his deputy went further.

The mine had too many platforms and workers inside in an effort to increase output, the deputy head, Zhao Tiechui, told Xinhua. He called the structure "far too complicated for its current ventilation system to work effectively."

The candid comments just two days after the blast that killed at least 104 miners were a possible attempt to keep families' frustration over the incident from turning into one of the many protests that the government sees as threatening stability.

The Xinxing mine's director, deputy director and chief engineer have been fired, said an employee, who refused to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

Police and officials led shouting families into the mining offices Monday, where several of the women settled into wooden desks and started crying. Slogans urging mining safety were tacked to the walls.

One official, who would not identify himself, held up a list of miners' names and tried to calm the crowd. "There are certainly dead. You don't take it well, we know. But there's a process. I feel as bad as you."

The overwhelmed wife of a miner named Hou Yibin was laid across some chairs with an IV in her arm.

"She almost collapsed and hasn't eaten for three days," her husband's brother, Hou Yitang, said later. "She has no job and now lives in a rented house. They have a 16-year-old girl who studies in middle school. We know the government will give the family compensation, but since the accident, no one from the coal mine has visited the wife and child."

China has closed or absorbed hundreds of smaller, private mines into state-owned operations, which are considered generally safer. But some of the most deadly accidents this year continue to be at state-run mines.

The push for safety brought an 18.4 percent drop in mining accident deaths in the first six months of the year, from the same period in 2008.

Still, 1,175 people died in mining accidents.

A light snow fell Monday evening as Xinxing miner Wang Bao sat in a tiny restaurant across the street from the blast site, slowly getting drunk on beer. He worked the shift before the one when the gas exploded. "I'm the lucky one," he said.

The average Xinxing miner makes 800 to 900 yuan a month ($117 to $131). When the shifts begin again, he'll be ready.

"Our brothers are dead," he said. "We Chinese, we cry. We just cry."
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Associated Press Writer Tini Tran and researcher Yu Bing in Beijing contributed to this report.


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Re: China says 42 dead, 66 trapped in mine explosion

Death toll in China mining blast rises to 107
(AP) ? 7 hours ago

BEIJING ? The number of dead in China's worst mining accident in two years rose to 107 Wednesday after three more bodies were pulled out of the coal mine, state media said.

The state-run Xinhua News Agency cited local authorities as saying the bodies of two workers were retrieved Wednesday morning, with a third pulled out in the afternoon. The report said the search continued for the last two people missing under ground at the state-run Xinxing mine in Hegang city, Heilongjiang province.

China's mine safety authorities have blamed crowded conditions,
insufficient ventilation and slow rescue efforts for the high death toll in the gas explosion, which hit before dawn Saturday when 528 miners were under ground.

The blast was a blow to the government's recent efforts to improve safety standards in the industry, the deadliest in the world.

The families of 18 of the miners killed have already signed one-time compensation agreements with the mine's owner, the Hegang branch of the Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Holding Group, worth 102,600 yuan ($15,000) each, according to a report in the Wuhan Evening News.

The Xinxing mine's director, deputy director and chief engineer have been fired, an employee has said. He refused to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

China has closed or absorbed hundreds of smaller, private mines into state-owned operations, which are considered generally safer. But some of the most deadly accidents this year continue to be at state-run mines.

The push for safety brought an 18.4 percent drop in mining accident deaths in the first six months of the year, from the same period in 2008.
Still, 1,175 people died in mining accidents.




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