A coal mine fire trapped 28 workers underground in eastern China yesterday as rescuers elsewhere tried to reach 42 people not seen since heavy rains flooded two other mines over the weekend, officials said.
The ongoing accidents in different regions highlight the continuing risks of China’s mining industry, one of the world’s most dangerous despite the government’s efforts to improve its safety record.
The State Administration of Work Safety said an air compressor 225m underground caught fire in Shandong Province on Wednesday evening, trapping 36 miners working in the area, according to an initial investigation. The department said that 28 people were still trapped yesterday morning. It did not say if the other eight were rescued or escaped themselves.
State-run CCTV television showed rescue workers putting large bags of mud and earth on a cart that would be used to block the fire, which was still burning underground.
Hundreds of kilometers away in southern China, rescuers were still working to reach 42 people who were trapped on Saturday in two accidents triggered by heavy rains.
Water flooded a mine that was under construction in Guizhou Province, trapping 23 workers deep underground. Rescuers have been pumping out the water, which had fallen 16m from original levels as of Wednesday night, the deputy director of the publicity department of Pingtang County said yesterday. The official gave only his surname, Yang, as is common with Chinese officials.
Xinhua news agency reported the water was originally 100m deep in some places.
In neighboring Guangxi autonomous region, 19 miners were missing in a coal mine that collapsed on Saturday after days of heavy rain.
More than 80 rescuers were working around the clock to dig through a sludge-flooded tunnel to reach the miners, Xinhua reported.
The owner of the mine, Guangxi Heshan Coal Mining Co, posted a notice offering 2 million yuan (US$300,000) to rescuers for each miner they pull out alive.
Forty-nine other miners had escaped the cave-in and three were confirmed dead.
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