Hopes faded yesterday for 102 Chinese coal miners trapped by floodwaters as state media reported an explosion at a second pit that killed 14 people.
The accident happened on Sunday afternoon at the Daxing Coal Mine in Xingning, some 265km northeast of the provincial capital of Guangzhou in Guangdong Province.
"There are 15 million to 20 million cubic meters of water under the mine and the water level is still rising 50cm an hour," the Xinhua news agency quoted a vice mayor of nearby Meizhou as saying.
"Chances of the trapped workers surviving are relatively small," he said.
Four miners escaped from the privately run mine, Xinhua said.
What triggered the flooding was unknown, Xinhua said. The China News Service said adjoining mines had been ordered to suspend production and evacuate workers.
"Objectively speaking, it's very very difficult to pump out all the water because more water is gushing in as some is pumped out," said an official in Wanghuai Township, near Xingning, who refused to give his name.
"The miners are located 480m underground, the water level is already higher than that. The survival chances are slim," he said.
Mines in the area were ordered to close after an accident last month, Xinhua said, without specifying whether the Daxing mine was operating illegally.
Shortly after the accident, Chinese President Hu Jintao (
Flooding at a coal mine in Xingning killed 16 workers on July 14, Xinhua said.
Further west, 14 miners were killed yesterday and two were missing in a gas explosion at a mine in Liupanshui in Guizhou Province. Only 23 miners managed to escape, Xinhua said.
China relies on coal for over two-thirds of its energy needs but accidents in the mining industry -- the world's most dangerous -- claimed 2,700 lives in the first half of this year alone.
Independent estimates say the real figure could be far higher as mines often falsify death counts to escape closures and fines.
In the worst mining disaster in the country's recent history, at least 203 workers were killed after a gas explosion in Liaoning Province last February.
Beijing recently announced the closure of 5,000 unlicensed coal mines, often the worst violators of safety regulations.
But high prices and the booming economy's voracious appetite for power encourage some to reopen illegally and others to ignore regulations or push production beyond capacity.
China's coal consumption is expected to rise by around 6 percent this year, Xinhua quoted the China Coal Industry Association as saying.
MAKING WAVES: China’s maritime militia could become a nontraditional threat in war, clogging up shipping lanes to prevent US or Japanese intervention, a report said About 1,900 Chinese ships flying flags of convenience and fishing vessels that participated in China’s military exercises around Taiwan last month and in January have been listed for monitoring, Coast Guard Administration (CGA) Deputy Director-General Hsieh Ching-chin (謝慶欽) said yesterday. Following amendments to the Commercial Port Act (商港法) and the Law of Ships (船舶法) last month, the CGA can designate possible berthing areas or deny ports of call for vessels suspected of loitering around areas where undersea cables can be accessed, Oceans Affairs Council Minister Kuan Bi-ling (管碧玲) said. The list of suspected ships, originally 300, had risen to about 1,900 as
Japan’s strategic alliance with the US would collapse if Tokyo were to turn away from a conflict in Taiwan, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said yesterday, but distanced herself from previous comments that suggested a possible military response in such an event. Takaichi expressed her latest views on a nationally broadcast TV program late on Monday, where an opposition party leader criticized her for igniting tensions with China with the earlier remarks. Ties between Japan and China have sunk to the worst level in years after Takaichi said in November that a hypothetical Chinese attack on Taiwan could bring about a Japanese
MORE RESPONSIBILITY: Draftees would be expected to fight alongside professional soldiers, likely requiring the transformation of some training brigades into combat units The armed forces are to start incorporating new conscripts into combined arms brigades this year to enhance combat readiness, the Executive Yuan’s latest policy report said. The new policy would affect Taiwanese men entering the military for their compulsory service, which was extended to one year under reforms by then-president Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) in 2022. The conscripts would be trained to operate machine guns, uncrewed aerial vehicles, anti-tank guided missile launchers and Stinger air defense systems, the report said, adding that the basic training would be lengthened to eight weeks. After basic training, conscripts would be sorted into infantry battalions that would take
DEEP-STRIKE CAPABILITY: The scenario simulated a PLA drill that turned into an assault on Taiwan’s critical infrastructure, with the launchers providing fire support Taiwan yesterday conducted this year’s first military exercises at Longsiang Base in Taichung, demonstrating the newly acquired High Mobility Artillery Rocket System’s (HIMARS) ability to provide fire support and deep-strike capabilities. The scenario simulated an attack on Penghu County, with HIMARS trucks immediately rolling into designated launch areas and firing barrages at the Wangan (望安) and Cimei (七美) islands, simulating the provision of fire support against invading forces. The HIMARS are supposed to “fire and leave,” which would significantly increase personnel and equipment survivability, a military official said. The drill simulated an exercise launched by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) Eastern
RSS