Death toll rise to 34 after gas leak at southwest China coal mine

[News_Editor]

Death toll rise to 34 after gas leak at southwest China coal mine

2011-11-13 19:59:18 GMT+7 (ICT)

QUJING, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- The death toll from a gas leak at a coal mine in southwest China on Thursday morning has risen to 34, the State Administration of Work Safety confirmed on Sunday. Nine other workers remain missing and are feared to have also been killed.

As of Sunday morning, 34 bodies have been found while nine miners remain trapped underground at the Sizhuang Coal Mine in Qujing, an industrial city located in Shizong County of Yunnan province. A total of 43 miners were working underground at the mine's two platforms when the accident happened on Thursday.

According to the state-run Xinhua news agency, the incident happened when methane gas leaked into the shaft of one of the mine's two platforms and quickly spread to the other platform. Initial reports of a gas explosion were later denied by municipal officials.

The mine was operating illegally, having had its license revoked a year ago, according to a statement from the provincial coal safety supervision bureau. The bureau had ordered the mine to halt its production in April.

As of Saturday, the families of at least 17 victims have already received 10,000 yuan ($1,577) in compensation for funeral expenses. Officials said each dead miner's family will get a compensation package of up to 660,000 yuan ($104,000).

Hundreds of rescuers are continuing to search for the nine missing workers.

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.

On October 29, a total of 29 mine workers were killed when a gas explosion ripped through the Xialiuchong Coal Mine in Hengyang, the second largest city in the country's Hunan Province. Five people were rescued and taken to a local hospital while a sixth miner was able to free himself.

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 in August 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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