Police detained a northwestern China mine owner yesterday after 28 workers died in his colliery following a pit fire, the latest in a series of deadly mining accidents, state press said.
All 28 miners were killed in the colliery in Shaanxi Province after electrical cables caught fire late on Saturday night at the Xiaonangou coal mine in Hancheng city, Xinhua news agency said.
Police did not name the mine owner, the report added, or provide further information on the colliery. Local authorities have launched an investigation into the accident and ordered province-wide safety inspections.
As of early yesterday, five bodies had been brought out of the mine, while arrangements were being made to bring up the other victims.
China’s vast coal mining industry is notoriously accident-prone due to lax regulation, corruption and inefficiency as mines rush to meet soaring demand. China relies on coal-generated power for about 70 percent of its electricity needs.
A total of 2,631 miners were killed in China last year, according to official figures, but independent labor groups say the actual figure could be much higher as many accidents are covered up to avoid costly mine shutdowns.
In another accident on Saturday, eight coal miners were killed in a blaze in a pit in neighboring Henan Province, Xinhua said in a separate report.
On June 21, an explosion killed 47 coal miners at a privately-owned mine in Henan’s Pingdingshan city when a store of gunpowder kept underground detonated, state press reports said.
A police investigation found that the mine was operating illegally as its mining license had expired early lat month, they said.
In March, a flood at the huge, unfinished Wangjialing mine in the industry’s northern heartland of Shanxi Province left 153 workers trapped underground. A total of 115 were recovered alive, in what was seen as a rare successful rescue.
Yet despite numerous pledges after that accident and other big mining disasters, there is virtually no let-up in the regular reports of deadly mishaps.
Zhao Tiechui (趙鐵錘), head of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, said in February that China would need at least 10 years to “fundamentally improve” safety and reduce the frequency of such disasters.
As part of efforts to increase safety standards, the central government has levied heavy fines and implemented region-wide mining shutdowns following serious accidents.
BACKLASH: The National Party quit its decades-long partnership with the Liberal Party after their election loss to center-left Labor, which won a historic third term Australia’s National Party has split from its conservative coalition partner of more than 60 years, the Liberal Party, citing policy differences over renewable energy and after a resounding loss at a national election this month. “Its time to have a break,” Nationals leader David Littleproud told reporters yesterday. The split shows the pressure on Australia’s conservative parties after Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s center-left Labor party won a historic second term in the May 3 election, powered by a voter backlash against US President Donald Trump’s policies. Under the long-standing partnership in state and federal politics, the Liberal and National coalition had shared power
NO EXCUSES: Marcos said his administration was acting on voters’ demands, but an academic said the move was emotionally motivated after a poor midterm showing Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr yesterday sought the resignation of all his Cabinet secretaries, in a move seen as an attempt to reset the political agenda and assert his authority over the second half of his single six-year term. The order came after the president’s allies failed to win a majority of Senate seats contested in the 12 polls on Monday last week, leaving Marcos facing a divided political and legislative landscape that could thwart his attempts to have an ally succeed him in 2028. “He’s talking to the people, trying to salvage whatever political capital he has left. I think it’s
CONTROVERSY: During the performance of Israel’s entrant Yuval Raphael’s song ‘New Day Will Rise,’ loud whistles were heard and two people tried to get on stage Austria’s JJ yesterday won the Eurovision Song Contest, with his operatic song Wasted Love triumphing at the world’s biggest live music television event. After votes from national juries around Europe and viewers from across the continent and beyond, JJ gave Austria its first victory since bearded drag performer Conchita Wurst’s 2014 triumph. After the nail-biting drama as the votes were revealed running into yesterday morning, Austria finished with 436 points, ahead of Israel — whose participation drew protests — on 357 and Estonia on 356. “Thank you to you, Europe, for making my dreams come true,” 24-year-old countertenor JJ, whose
Polish presidential candidates offered different visions of Poland and its relations with Ukraine in a televised debate ahead of next week’s run-off, which remains on a knife-edge. During a head-to-head debate lasting two hours, centrist Warsaw Mayor Rafal Trzaskowski, from Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk’s governing pro-European coalition, faced the Eurosceptic historian Karol Nawrocki, backed by the right-wing populist Law and Justice party (PiS). The two candidates, who qualified for the second round after coming in the top two places in the first vote on Sunday last week, clashed over Poland’s relations with Ukraine, EU policy and the track records of their
RSS