A gas explosion at a Chinese coal mine has killed at least 23 miners, state media reported yesterday, in the latest accident to hit the world's deadliest mining industry.
Another 53 people were hospitalized after inhaling toxic gases from the blast at the Sihe Coal Mine in the northern province of Shanxi, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Nearly 700 miners were working underground at the time of the explosion on Wednesday, the report said, citing an unnamed official with the provincial coal mine safety supervision bureau. Search and rescue work ended early yesterday.
One of the 53 sickened by carbon monoxide was in critical condition. The report did not say if the 23 killed died from the blast or poisoning, and provided no details on how the carbon monoxide poisoning occurred.
An investigation was under way to determine the cause of the blast, Xinhua said.
The Sihe Coal Mine, which is a subsidiary of the state-owned Jincheng Mining Group, is one of the largest collieries in Shanxi Province and produces about 10 million tonnes of coal a year, the report said.
An official who answered the phone at the Jincheng Mining Group who would only give his surname, Li, confirmed that 23 were killed and 53 hospitalized. He said no further details were immediately available.
The Sihe mine is located in Qinshui County, about 80km from the company's headquarters in southern Shanxi's Jincheng city, Li said.
China's coal mines are the world's deadliest, with fires, explosions and floods occurring almost daily.
Despite repeated official promises to improve safety, more than 5,000 workers are reported killed every year.
The government has been trying to clean up China's mining industry, which killed more than 5,500 in the country last year, but a spate of accidents has made a mockery of safety campaigns.
Booming demand and high prices for coal -- which accounts for about 70 percent of China's energy -- mean regulations are often ignored, production is pushed beyond safe limits and mines that have been shut down reopened illegally.
‘NO SECURITY RISK’: The Railway Bureau reassured the public that the technicians’ activities were limited to technical guidance and did not involve sensitive systems The Railway Bureau yesterday said it had invited eight Chinese technicians to assist with an airport MRT construction project. The bureau issued the confirmation after an Internet user said Chinese nationals had entered the construction zone of Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport’s Terminal 3 project. They asked why “individuals from an enemy state” were allowed access to such a major national infrastructure project, which raised serious concerns over Taiwan’s industrial safety, sensitive systems and information security. The bureau’s Northern Region Engineering Branch Office said subcontractor Taiwan Handle Industrial Co (台灣手把工業) of the Taoyuan airport MRT’s “Contract No. CU05 Project A14 Station Civil, MEP &
The National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology yesterday showcased its locally developed variants of the Vision 60 robotic patrol dog, which it plans to deploy on the nation’s outlying territories in the South China Sea. The variants were produced under the Joint Lab project — created by the institute and domestic companies — and assembled with domestically produced motors, lenses and artificial intelligence (AI) systems alongside licensed tech from the US, Missile and Rocket Systems Research Division deputy director Jen Kuo-kang (任國光) told the media event at a military base in Taipei’s Dazhi (大直) area. Taiwan has built up its strengths
TIT-FOR-TAT: The US allegedly revoked the visa of a Chinese national working at Xinhua News Agency in the US in response to Beijing’s expulsion of Vivian Wang The Presidential Office yesterday condemned China for expelling a New York Times correspondent from Beijing following the newspaper’s interview with President William Lai (賴清德), saying the move highlighted Beijing’s suppression of press freedom and its threat to international news media. Taiwan has noted a series of recent incidents in which Beijing used similar tactics to “threaten and pressure international media outlets and journalists,” Presidential Office spokeswoman Karen Kuo (郭雅慧) said in a statement. “This concerns not only press freedom and freedom of expression, but also the safety of journalists, and Taiwan and relevant partners are paying close attention to the situation,” she
NOT IMMEDIATE: Taiwan has a chance to appeal the proposed 10 percent tariff before it starts, while other countries face a 12.5 percent tariff from the trade office Taiwan is among 60 economies determined by the US to have failed to impose or enforce a ban on the importation of goods produced with forced labor, according to a notice released on Tuesday by the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), which proposed imposing an additional 10 percent or more tariff on them. The USTR in a statement said that following an investigation, it had determined under Section 301 of the Trade Act of 1974 that the failure of the 60 economies to impose and effectively enforce a prohibition on the importation of goods produced with forced labor is
RSS