Fire in eastern China coal mine traps dozens

[News_Editor]

Fire in eastern China coal mine traps dozens

2011-07-07 21:38:27 GMT+7 (ICT)

SHANDONG, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- A fire broke out at a coal mine in eastern China on Wednesday trapping 91 people, and as of Thursday, 28 miners remained trapped inside, officials said.

The incident occurred on Wednesday evening at around 6:45 p.m. local time in China's eastern province of Shandong when an air compression device caught fire in a parking lot about 255 meters (837 feet) underground, a government spokesman told state-run media Xinhua news agency.

As of 7:30 a.m. Thursday, a total of 63 miners had been successfully rescued, as emergency teams consisting of over 1,000 people continue their rescue efforts. Two teams are currently inside the mine; one of them has already set up a temporary emergency station underground, but no contact has been made with the trapped miners.

The fire at the mine, which belongs to Zaozhuang Fangbei Coal Mine Co. Ltd. and is headquartered in the province's city of Zaozhuang, was put out on Thursday. Temperatures underground have been reportedly decreasing, but firefighters are on stand by in case of a subsequent fire.

The reason of the accident remains uncertain. State Administration of Work Safety chief Luo Lin, as well as major provincial officials including chief of the provincial committee of the Communist Party of China Jiang Yikang have arrived at the mine to lead a team of experts to investigate the incident and monitor the rescue mission.

Gas explosions, floods and fires are frequent in China's coal mines. The State Administration of Coal Mine Safety data show 2,433 miners were killed in coal mine accidents in 2010, compared with 2,631 deaths in 2009.

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