Death toll from Chinese coal mine disaster rises to 92

THE DEATH toll from China’s latest coal mining disaster rose to 92 yesterday as hopes of finding survivors from Saturday’s gas explosion dimmed.

The official Xinhua news agency reported that 528 people had been working in the Xinxing mine in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang when the explosion took place at 2.30am on Saturday. It said 420 people escaped.

Some 16 miners remained trapped or unaccounted for, a spokesman for the mine company said.

Overnight temperatures, meanwhile, were falling to as low as minus 10 degrees, according to the central meteorological station.

Footage on Chinese state broadcaster CCTV showed windows of buildings within 20m (66ft) of the site shattered by the force of the explosion.

Witnesses said safety staff knew gas in the mine had reached dangerous levels and were getting ready to evacuate the miners when the blast occurred 500m (1,640ft) below ground.

Local media carried harrowing tales of death and injury. Qu Zhongliang’s face and hands were badly damaged, and his trachea was injured. “Someone from the hospital called me on Saturday morning and I got to know that my husband was injured,” said Huang Guizhen, Mr Qu’s wife. “Looking at his blood-covered face, I didn’t recognise him at first.”

The Xinxing mine is more than 400km (250 miles) east of Heilongjiang’s provincial capital, Harbin, and has an approved annual production capacity of 1.45 million tonnes of coal.

An editorial in the Beijing Youth Dailypointed out that the worst incidents took place in the winter months between November and February, and accused coal mines of working beyond the safety threshold to take advantage of the lucrative winter coal market.

China’s coal industry is the deadliest in the world. In the first half of this year, 1,175 people died in officially recorded coal mine incidents, a fall of 18.4 per cent on the same period last year, according to the state administration of coal mine safety.

The government has tried to implement better safety procedures following a rash of disasters a couple of years ago, and has sought to close many illegal mining operations, especially smaller pits.

However, mining disasters, often due to poor safety standards, remain common. In September, a gas explosion in a mine in Henan killed 79 miners.

Coal is vital to the vast population and booming economy, as China uses it to generate 70 per cent of its electricity at coal-fuelled power plants.