15 miners have died and five others were hospitalized in two
coalmine accidents in central China, according to local work safety
sources yesterday.
A flooding happened at about 4:30 AM Sunday in the Zhenxing Coal
Mine in Daye City, central China's Hubei Province. 10 miners were working
underground at the time, according to the Huangshi City Work Safety
Bureau.
Three miners managed to escape and another was rescued by
emergency workers, said the bureau. But six others died in the
accident. Their bodies have been found, said the bureau, adding
that investigations into the cause of the flooding are
underway.
In neighboring Hunan Province, four more bodies from a
coalmine gas explosion were recovered on Sunday, raising the death
toll to nine, according to the provincial work safety
administration.
The explosion occurred at about 10:00 AM Thursday at Lianyi Coal
Mine in Lianyuan City when 20 miners were working underground.
Nine workers managed to escape and two others were rescued, said
the administration. Five of the 11 survivors are still receiving
treatment in hospital, it said.
Initial investigations showed that the mine owner, brought in
the miners to repair tunnels without measuring the gas density and
their electric tools triggered the explosion. The owner of the mine
has run away.
(Xinhua News Agency September 4, 2006)