Death roll from gas explosion at Chinese coal mine rises to 26

Death roll from gas explosion at Chinese coal mine rises to 26

2010-12-08 21:14:43 GMT+7 (ICT)

ZHENGZHOU, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- The death toll has risen to 26 after Tuesday's gas explosion at a coal mine in the central region of China, state media reported on Wednesday.

The blast took place at around 7.40 p.m. local time at a pit of the Juyuan Coal Industry Company in Mianchi county of Sanmenxia city, about 300 kilometers (185 miles) from Henan's provincial capital of Zhengzhou.

Local authorities informed that, at the moment of the blast, 46 miners were working underground. Twenty of them survived the accident and were pulled out to safety. For the others, help came too late.

The mine was recently renamed after its merger into he state-owned Yi Ma Coal Industry Group. It was under reform and industry re-grouping and was not allowed to operate.

The Yi Ma Coal Industry Group has coal mines in five provinces and regions across the country and employs approximately 50,000 people. The coal mine involved in the accident produces about 150,000 tons of coal per year.

Local police are investigating the accident and attempting to locate the mine owner, who has not spoken to authorities since the accident.

Safety conditions at mines in China have significantly improved in recent years, but they remain among the world's most dangerous with around 2,600 fatalities in 2009 alone.

On October 27, twelve people were killed and another was injured after a flooding accident at a coal mine in the southwestern Chinese province of Guinzhou.

And on October 16, a gas leak at a Pingyu Coal & Electric Co. Ltd.-owned coal mine in Yuzhou City of central China's Henan Province killed 37 miners. It took several days to recover all bodies.

But one of the worst mining accidents in China in recent years happened in November 2009, when 104 miners were killed after several explosions at a coal mine in Heilongjiang province.

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