Gas Explosion in Chinese Mine Kills 203

Author: 
Stephanie Hoo, Associated Press
Publication Date: 
Wed, 2005-02-16 03:00

FUXIN, China, 16 February 2005 — Three years after a promised overhaul of China’s workplace safety system, the government yesterday said a gas explosion killed 203 miners and left 12 more missing — the worst mining disaster reported in the country since Communist rule began in 1949. Dozens of rescuers were searching through the night in subfreezing temperatures for anyone still trapped from Monday’s blast in the Sunjiawan coal mine in northeast China’s Liaoning province.

The cause of the blast, which occurred about 242 meters underground, was under investigation, state media said.

Workers reported feeling a sudden, strong tremor shake the mine 10 minutes before the blast, Xinhua news agency said, quoting Zhang Yunfu, vice general manager of Fuxin Coal. Moments later, gas detectors lost their signals and one of the mine’s main pits filled with smoke, the agency said.

A thick cordon of men in matching dark coats and helmets stood side by side blocking the entrance to the mine late yesterday, as cars full of paramilitary police patrolled the site. A line of vans waited to transport any wounded to hospitals in Fuxin, a gritty, soot-covered city where mining is the main industry.

“Mining is just too dangerous, but it’s a struggle to find work here,” said Zhang Qiang, a Fuxin native who said he works at odd jobs to make ends meet.

Fuxin, a city of about 1 million people, lies in China’s northeastern rust belt — a region teeming with inefficient state-owned industries saddled with outdated equipment. The government has said it would do more to ease unemployment in the region, amid rising discontent.

State media reported that 28 injured lay in hospital beds suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, burns and fractures.

All the injured were in stable condition, except for one who was in a coma due to a head injury caused by flying debris, Xinhua said. About 30 family members of the victims were also hospitalized “due to deep grief,” it said.

President Hu Jintao and other Chinese leaders ordered local officials “to spare no effort to rescue those stranded in the mine,” Xinhua said. It said they called for “strict measures” to prevent more such disasters.

State television showed Hua Jianwen, a member of China’s Cabinet, watching as rescuers descended into the mine to look for survivors and later standing over the hospital bed of a miner with severe facial burns.

In October 2002, the government created the country’s first national safety laws and launched a nationwide effort to improve job safety with a network of workplace inspectors.

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