As at 9:00 AM Wednesday, the death toll from the coalmine blast
in northeast China was confirmed at 150.
Rescuers are still searching for one miner believed to trapped
underground.
According to rescuers, the dead include 148 miners and two female
workers who were found dead in the ground generator room on Tuesday
afternoon.
221 miners were working underground when the explosion occurred at
9:40 PM Sunday at the Dongfeng Coal Mine run by the Qitaihe branch
of the Longmei Mining (Group) Co. Ltd. in Heilongjiang
Province.
72 miners were rescued, 47 of whom are suffering from gas
poisoning, according to Shi Guicheng, deputy president of the
General Hospital of the Qimei Group.
"Many of the injured are recovering after treatment in a hyperbaric
oxygen chamber," said Shi, who added some miners were also
suffering from post-traumatic stress.
Only one miner suffered head injuries and he was also treated for
gas poisoning, Shi said.
Shi said four more medical specialists are scheduled to join the
three medical experts at the hospital who are treating the injured
miners.
Body identification and compensation work started on Tuesday.
A spokesman of the Longmei Mining (Group) Co., Ltd. said the
relatives of every dead miner will receive 200,000 to 220,000 yuan
(US$24,660-27,100) in compensation.
As at 9:00 PM Tuesday, the relatives of more than 20 dead miners
signed the compensation agreement.
Li Yizhong, head of the National Bureau of Production Safety
Supervision Administration, and major senior officials of the
province are organizing the rescue operation at the accident
site.
The Heilongjiang provincial government held an emergency videophone
conference on Monday afternoon ordering safety checks on all mines
in the province.
Mines which do not meet production safety criteria will be
immediately closed down.
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(Xinhua News Agency November 30, 2005)