Six people were killed and four injured in an
explosion at a firecracker workshop in central China's Hunan
Province yesterday, and nine miners died after being
trapped by a blast at a colliery in the northern province of Shanxi.
A powerful blast tore the roof off and destroyed
the 100-square meter unlicensed workshop in Dong'an Village of
Yizhang County at about 10 AM, but no adjacent houses were
affected, according to the local work safety regulator.
Preliminary investigations found the workshop was
run by a man from Sichuan
Province without a business license, according to Wang
Zhangbin, director of the local administration of production safety
and supervision.
An investigation into the cause of the incident is
underway.
Shanxi’s administration of coal mine safety
supervision said this morning that the explosion at Jiuyuancun Coal
Mine in the provincial capital Taiyuan took place at about 5 PM
yesterday.
Eight miners were initially reported trapped, but
the city government was quoted by Chinanews.cn this morning as
saying that nine had been killed and five escaped.
The colliery is village-owned with an annual output
of 60,000 tons, said Gong Anku, director of the administration.
It did not have the required production licenses
and was ordered to suspend operations in September but continued
running, the administration said.
The owner of the mine has fled and the cause of the
accident is under investigation.
(Xinhua News Agency October 26, 2005)