Flooding at coal mine in southwest China kills 10

Flooding at coal mine in southwest China kills 10

2011-09-04 03:24:26 GMT+7 (ICT)

CHENGDU, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- Ten miners were killed and two others remain missing after a coal mine in southwest China's Sichuan Province flooded on Monday, local authorities said on Saturday.

The state-run Xinhua news agency said rescuers had recovered 10 bodies out of the flooded shaft at the Zengjiagou Coal Mine in the city of Dazhou by Saturday afternoon. Rescuers are working to reach two others who remain trapped underground, a spokesman with the provincial work safety bureau said.

The flood occurred around 10 a.m. local time on Monday when 30 miners were working underground. Eighteen of the miners managed to escape, according to the report. A manager in charge of safety and the owner of the coal mine have been arrested, the spokesman said.

Safety conditions at mines in China have significantly improved in recent years, but they remain among the world's most dangerous with 1,083 fatalities in the first seven months of 2011 alone. There were 2,433 fatalities in 2010 and 2,631 in 2009.

China in recent years shut down scores of small mines to improve safety and efficiency in the mining industry. The country has also ordered all mines to build emergency shelter systems by June 2013 which are to be equipped with machines to produce oxygen and air conditioning, protective walls and airtight doors to protect workers against toxic gases and other hazardous factors.

The first manned test of such a permanent underground chamber was carried out last month when around 100 people - including managers, engineers, miners, medical staff, and the chamber's developers - took part in a 48-hour test at a mine owned by the China National Coal Group in the city of Shuozhou in northern China's Shanxi Province.

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

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