Silver Scorpio - International News | Spot News | Top News | Flash News | Live News
Beijing, June 6 (IANS) An earthquake measuring 4.6 on the Richter scale hit China’s Shanxi province, but there was no report of any casualty, the China Earthquake Networks Centre said.
The quake occurred at 8.58 p.m. Saturday. Its epicentre was 38.2 degrees north latitude and 112.7 degrees east longitude, at a depth of five km, Xinhua reported.
New Delhi, May 19 (ANI): A coalmine gas explosion in north China’s Shanxi Province has resulted in death of at least 10 people.
The accident occurred on Tuesday evening when 41 miners were working in the shaft of Chentong Coal Industry Co., Ltd., in Yuxian County, said a spokesperson for work safety authorities on Wednesday.
Twenty-seven people escaped from the scene unhurt and 14 were trapped underground, said Liu Xianyun, of the work safety committee of Yangquan City, which administers Yuxian County.
Three of the trapped miners had been rescued, while 10 were confirmed dead and one was still missing, Liu said at a press conference, the China Daily reports.
The company was licensed with an annual production capacity of 600,000 tonnes.
Rescue work is continuing, and work safety authorities are investigating the cause of the accident. (ANI)
At least 115 miners were pulled alive from a flooded coal mine in north China after being trapped for over a week, eating bark to survive and prompting jubilant officials to hail their survival a miracle.
Officials said 153 miners were trapped in the unfinished Wangjialing mine in Xiangning, Shanxi province, after it filled with water last Sunday.
The survivors were pulled out late on Sunday night and throughout Monday, with 38 miners still missing. The survivors’ condition was reported as stable.
“It is a miracle,” said Luo Lin, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, waiting at the entrance of the mine pit, was quoted by the Xinhua news agency as saying.
“The trapped miners stayed so unwaveringly determined down the mine shaft, passing through eight days and eight nights to live.”
Survivors were brought out from a working platform, where rescuers had drilled a vertical hole last week. The hole ensured oxygen in the water-flooded pit while rescuers sent down glucose.
The workers also survived by eating bark from pine wood used in construction of the mines, Chinese television said.
It was rare good news in China’s perilous coal-mining industry, the deadliest in the world, with thousands killed every year in mine floods, explosions, collapses and other accidents.
Workers are tempted into the mine wells by wages that can be much higher than for many other jobs open to blue-collar workers and rural migrants.
One of the surviving workers insisted on borrowing a cell phone from a doctor to call his family in central China’s rural Henan province.
“I’m good. How are you and the kid?” he asked his wife, according to a report on the website of the People’s Daily newspaper.
The survivors were brought out on stretches to loud cheering and clapping from scores of rescue workers who had toiled tirelessly day and night. Ambulances lined the road out of the mine to take the survivors to hospital.
RESCUE WATCHED NATIONWIDE
Over the weekend, China was on public holiday for the traditional “tomb sweeping” festival, when people mourn their dead kin. The spectacle of the rescue has captured nationwide interest.
“As long as there’s one percent of hope, we will still make a 100 percent effort,” said Huang Yi, a spokesman for the national mine safety authority, according to Chinese television news.
Thousands of family members awaiting news of their loved ones and other onlookers stood along the road, bursting into applause when the ambulances passed by. Residents converged on a hospital treating survivors with gifts of milk and other food.
“I would be more than happy to see whoever is brought out of the mine, even if it’s not my father,” said one young man.
The government had mobilised thousands of rescue workers to pump out water and search for the miners, but hopes of anyone emerging alive appeared to dim until rescuers heard knocking on a mine pipe on Friday.
After frantic pumping, the water level dropped low enough for rescue workers to enter the shaft.
The rescued survivors were weak but lucid and able to speak despite the ordeal, identifying themselves to doctors, the semi-official China News Service reported.
“Their widespread problem is that after a long time soaking in water, they have partially ulcerated (skin),” the report said.
Strong demand for energy and lax safety standards have made China’s mines often deadly places to work, despite the government’s drive to clamp down on small, unsafe operations where most accidents occur.
The number of people killed in Chinese coal mines dropped to 2,631 in 2009, an average of seven a day, from 3,215 in 2008, according to official statistics.
China has ordered the consolidation or takeover of many private mines. It says the shutdown of many of the most dangerous private operations has helped cut accidents.
But the deadliest accidents are not limited to private firms. The Wangjialing mine was a project belonging to a joint venture between China National Coal Group and Shanxi Coking Coal Group, two of China’s larger state-owned firms.
(Writing by Chris Buckley and Jacqueline Wong; Editing by Nick Macfie)
Shanxi, Apr 5 (ANI): At least 114 miners have been rescued from the flooded Wangjialing Coal Mine in China’s Shanxi Province by Monday afternoon.
The rescue headquarters said that over 114 miners have been taken out from the flooded Wangjialing Coal Mine and over 39 others are still inside, reports Xinhua.
“Rescuers are continuing the search for 39 trapped miners. The rescue work is still challenging,” said Shanxi Governor Wang Jun.
Survivors had covered their eyes with clothes, as the rescue personnel pulled them out of the flooded coal mine.
“It is a miracle in China’s mining rescue history,” said Luo Lin, the head of the State Administration of Work Safety, who is waiting at the pit entrance.
“Scientific methods and technology used in the rescue have ensured the survivors rescued alive after being trapped underground for a week,” said Shanxi Party chief Zhang Baoshun.
aoshun further said most of the survivors were brought out from a working platform, where rescued had drilled a vertical hole last week.
“The hole has ensured oxygen in the flooded pit. Rescuers later sent down glucose to the trapped ones,” he said, adding that most of the survivors were in a stable condition, and could talk soberly.
“It is miracle. It is all worth of our efforts without sleep for several days,” said Wei Fusheng, a white-hair rescuer, bursting into tears.
The Ministry of Health later sent a team of medical experts having the experiences of disaster relief in Wenchuan Earthquake and Haiti Quake to aide the rescue work.
“I have two daughters and a son. I had to do mining work to earn money for them,” said a 45-year-old survivor taken by the Shanxi Aluminium Plant Hospital, which has admitted 35 survivors from the mine on Monday.
The hospital is among the five local hospitals assisting in taking out survivors from the mine.
“How fantastic to be up on ground again,” said a 27-year-old survivor, adding that he heard applause after coming out of the Wangjialing Coal Mine.
The survivor later shook hands with the rescue personnel and praised them for their endeavor.
The rescuers had entered the flooded coalmine on Sunday evening to search for about 153 workers, who were trapped inside for a week.
Earlier on Sunday evening, swaying lamp lights were seen from the V-shaped lane of the flooded mine, which led to the rescue of the first group of nine urvivors. (ANI)
Nine trapped miners were pulled to safety late on Sunday after spending more than a week trapped in a flooded coal mine in northern China.
The nine men — among 153 trapped since March 28 — were wrapped in blankets, placed in ambulances and rushed to a hospital. China Central Television said more people in the Wangjialing mine could still be alive. It showed images of several miners being taken into the hospital in Hejin city, about 40 minutes from the mine.
The nine had been trapped since workers broke a wall into a water-filled abandoned shaft, flooding the mine in Shanxi province in northern China. About 3,000 people have worked around the clock since then to pump out the water.
A glimmer of hope emerged Friday when rescuers heard knocking on a pipe that had been drilled into the mine. But no sounds were heard after that as workers frantically pumped water out and sent divers into the mine to scout conditions.
Finally, late on Sunday night the first survivor was brought to the surface. A crowd of people outside the entrance of the mine shaft clapped as the miners were carried out. It was not immediately known if there were any other survivors, but the official Xinhua News Agency reported that swaying lamp lights were seen at the other side of a V-shaped shaft in the mine. It said the bottom of the V-shaped shaft had emerged as the water level fell.
A preliminary investigation found that the mine’s managers ignored water leaks before the accident, the State Administration of Work Safety said.
Chinese rescuers have pulled 114 miners from a flooded coal mine in northern Shanxi province more than a week since the accident occurred, dozens of them rescued on Monday.
“It is a miracle in China’s mining rescue history,” Luo Lin, head of the State Administration of Work Safety waiting at the pit entrance, was quoted as saying by Xinhua news agency.
Rescuers were continuing the search for 39 trapped miners, the agency said.
Shanxi Communitst Party chief Zhang Baoshun was quoted as saying most of the survivors were believed to be in stable condition.
(Reporting by Jacqueline Wong; Editing by Nick Macfie)
XIANGNING, China, April 5 (Reuters) – Nine miners trapped in a flooded coal mine in northern China were rescued early on Monday after more than seven days underground, with signs that over 140 others may also still be alive in the shaft.
Officials have said 153 miners were trapped in the unfinished Wangjialing mine in Xiangning, Shanxi province, after it filled with water from an adjacent underground source over a week ago — one of the worst mine accidents for some time in a nation with notoriously dangerous coal mines.
Some locals believe even more miners were trapped. [ID:nTOE63101B]
The government mobilised 3,000 rescue workers to pump out water and search for trapped miners, but hopes of anyone emerging alive appeared to be dimming until rescuers heard knocking on a mine pipe on Friday.
After frantic pumping, the water level dropped low enough for rescue workers to enter the shaft, who then pulled out the nine, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
“Their blood pressure and heart rates remained normal after having being trapped in the shaft for one week,” Xinhua reported of the survivors.
The rescued survivors were weak but lucid and able to speak despite the ordeal, identifying themselves to doctors, the semi-official China News Service reported.
“Their widespread problem is that after a long time soaking in water, they have partially ulcerated (skin),” the report said.
The Xinhua report said 144 miners were still trapped and “rescue workers heard banging on a metal pipe, indicating further signs of life”.
Another 300 rescuers had gone into the shaft, hoping to find survivors, Chinese television news said. An official helping oversee rescue efforts said it may be Monday afternoon before searchers reach the tunnels where there could be more survivors.
Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang, the senior official in charge of work safety, told the rescuers “to race against time and go all out to continue the rescue work”, the report said.
But many of those 144 appear likely to join China’s toll of thousands of miners killed every year by explosions, shaft collapses, flooding and toxic gas.
Strong demand for energy and lax safety standards have made China’s mines the most dangerous in the world, despite the government’s drive to clamp down on small, unsafe operations where most accidents occur.
The number of people killed in Chinese coal mines dropped to 2,631 in 2009, an average of seven a day, from 3,215 in 2008, according to official statistics.
China has ordered the consolidation or takeover of many private mines. It says the shutdown of many of the most dangerous private operations has helped cut accidents.
But the deadliest accidents are not limited to private firms. The Wangjialing mine was a project belonging to a joint venture between China National Coal Group and Shanxi Coking Coal Group, two of China’s larger state-owned firms.
Relatives of miners and some Chinese media have blamed the firms for ignoring safety requirements in their push to start operations. (Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Benjamin Kang Lim)
(Reuters) – Families and survivors of a flood feared to be one of China’s worst mine accidents in recent years say officials are covering up the true number of people trapped underground and failing in rescue efforts.
World | China
The local government has not published the names of the 153 miners it says were unable to escape when water surged into the pit on Sunday afternoon, prompting Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang to demand a list of potential victims, local media reported.
“Is 153 the exact number?” Zhang, sent to direct rescue efforts shortly after the accident, was quoted asking mine officials in a conference call.
“I don’t think the suspicion from the public is unreasonable,” he added, according to the Beijing News.
At the mine itself relatives waiting for news of their fathers, sons and brothers, and survivors keen to help out with rescue efforts all told Reuters the official toll was too low.
“We sent 10 tramcars down to the pit before the flooding and each car usually carries 44 miners and a driver,” a tramcar driver who was working on the day of the accident said.
“Only one car came back up the shaft, plus a few dozen miners who escaped on foot,” he said, suggesting nearly 450 people could have been underground at the time of the flood.
Officials say 261 people were working in the unfinished Wangjialing mine, in northern Shanxi province, and 108 escaped. Even those who do not question the total number underground say
there may be more than 153 still trapped.
“At least 200 people are trapped,” said a mine worker surnamed Li, unwilling to give his full name because of official pressure not to speak to foreign media.
“I was working in the checkpoint at the entry of the pit, so I’m quite sure about how many people had gone underground.”
A Shanxi government official said they had heard there were a lot of suspicions, but insisted the number was accurate.
“We have checked this many times, so it should be the exact number,” said the official from the province’s foreign affairs office, who gave only his surname, Cao, and said he did not know why names were not being released.
SURVIVAL HOPES?
Some miners were working on platforms above current water levels and may have survived, the official Xinhua agency said.
Sounds from the pit, which may have been someone pounding on the pipelines, were heard on Friday morning, CCTV news reported. One of the rescue workers told Reuters they had found a piece of wire tied onto a pipeline sent into the flooded zone.
But five days of rescue efforts have reduced water levels barely a meter, the Xinhua report added.
“The pipelines are too thin to pump water fast enough,” the daughter of a trapped miner told Reuters, requesting anonymity.
“My father will not be killed by the flooding, but by these rescuers,” she added.
China has ordered the consolidation or takeover of many private mines in order to improve oversight and safety.
It credits the shutdown of many of the most dangerous private mines with helping to reduce the death toll in the coal industry to about 2,600 last year from over 3,000 the year before.
But the deadliest accidents are not limited to private firms. The Wangjialing mine was a high-profile project belonging to a joint venture between China National Coal Group and Shanxi Coking Coal Group, two of China’s larger state-owned firms.
Relatives and some Chinese media have blamed the firms for ignoring safety requirements in their push to start operations.
Miners found water in the pit as early as three days before the accident, but the managers just said: “How can you be afraid of a little bit of water?” the worker surnamed Li said.
“They did not treat migrant workers as human beings,” he added.
(Writing by Yu Le and Emma Graham-Harrison; Editing by Benjamin Kang Lim and Jerry Norton)
* Officials refuse to publish list of names of trapped
* Survivors say fewer than 108 escaped, more trapped
* Possible indications of life heard on Friday morning
XIANGNING, China, April 2 (Reuters) – Families and survivors of a flood feared to be one of China’s worst mine accidents in recent years say officials are covering up the true number of people trapped underground and failing in rescue efforts.
The local government has not published the names of the 153 miners it says were unable to escape when water surged into the pit on Sunday afternoon, prompting Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang to demand a list of potential victims, local media reported.
“Is 153 the exact number?” Zhang, sent to direct rescue efforts shortly after the accident, was quoted asking mine officials in a conference call.
“I don’t think the suspicion from the public is unreasonable,” he added, according to the Beijing News.
At the mine itself relatives waiting for news of their fathers, sons and brothers, and survivors keen to help out with rescue efforts all told Reuters the official toll was too low.
“We sent 10 tramcars down to the pit before the flooding and each car usually carries 44 miners and a driver,” a tramcar driver who was working on the day of the accident said.
“Only one car came back up the shaft, plus a few dozen miners who escaped on foot,” he said, suggesting nearly 450 people could have been underground at the time of the flood.
Officials say 261 people were working in the unfinished Wangjialing mine, in northern Shanxi province, and 108 escaped. Even those who do not question the total number underground say there may be more than 153 still trapped.
“At least 200 people are trapped,” said a mine worker surnamed Li, unwilling to give his full name because of official pressure not to speak to foreign media.
“I was working in the checkpoint at the entry of the pit, so I’m quite sure about how many people had gone underground.”
A Shanxi government official said they had heard there were a lot of suspicions, but insisted the number was accurate.
“We have checked this many times, so it should be the exact number,” said the official from the province’s foreign affairs office, who gave only his surname, Cao, and said he did not know why names were not being released.
SURVIVAL HOPES?
Some miners were working on platforms above current water levels and may have survived, the official Xinhua agency said.
Sounds from the pit, which may have been someone pounding on the pipelines, were heard on Friday morning, CCTV news reported. One of the rescue workers told Reuters they had found a piece of wire tied onto a pipeline sent into the flooded zone.
But five days of rescue efforts have reduced water levels barely a metre, the Xinhua report added.
“The pipelines are too thin to pump water fast enough,” the daughter of a trapped miner told Reuters, requesting anonymity.
“My father will not be killed by the flooding, but by these rescuers,” she added.
China has ordered the consolidation or takeover of many private mines in order to improve oversight and safety.
It credits the shutdown of many of the most dangerous private mines with helping to reduce the death toll in the coal industry to about 2,600 last year from over 3,000 the year before.
But the deadliest accidents are not limited to private firms. The Wangjialing mine was a high-profile project belonging to a joint venture between China National Coal Group and Shanxi Coking Coal Group, two of China’s larger state-owned firms.
Relatives and some Chinese media have blamed the firms for ignoring safety requirements in their push to start operations.
Miners found water in the pit as early as three days before the accident, but the managers just said: “How can you be afraid of a little bit of water?” the worker surnamed Li said.
“They did not treat migrant workers as human beings,” he added. (Writing by Yu Le and Emma Graham-Harrison; Editing by Benjamin Kang Lim and Jerry Norton)
(Reuters) – Families and survivors of a flood feared to be one of China’s worst mine accidents in recent years say officials are covering up the true number of people trapped underground and failing in rescue efforts.
World | China
The local government has not published the names of the 153 miners it says were unable to escape when water surged into the pit on Sunday afternoon, prompting Vice-Premier Zhang Dejiang to demand a list of potential victims, local media reported.
“Is 153 the exact number?” Zhang, sent to direct rescue efforts shortly after the accident, was quoted asking mine officials in a conference call.
“I don’t think the suspicion from the public is unreasonable,” he added, according to the Beijing News.
At the mine itself relatives waiting for news of their fathers, sons and brothers, and survivors keen to help out with rescue efforts all told Reuters the official toll was too low.
“We sent 10 tramcars down to the pit before the flooding and each car usually carries 44 miners and a driver,” a tramcar driver who was working on the day of the accident said.
“Only one car came back up the shaft, plus a few dozen miners who escaped on foot,” he said, suggesting nearly 450 people could have been underground at the time of the flood.
Officials say 261 people were working in the unfinished Wangjialing mine, in northern Shanxi province, and 108 escaped. Even those who do not question the total number underground say
there may be more than 153 still trapped.
“At least 200 people are trapped,” said a mine worker surnamed Li, unwilling to give his full name because of official pressure not to speak to foreign media.
“I was working in the checkpoint at the entry of the pit, so I’m quite sure about how many people had gone underground.”
A Shanxi government official said they had heard there were a lot of suspicions, but insisted the number was accurate.
“We have checked this many times, so it should be the exact number,” said the official from the province’s foreign affairs office, who gave only his surname, Cao, and said he did not know why names were not being released.
SURVIVAL HOPES?
Some miners were working on platforms above current water levels and may have survived, the official Xinhua agency said.
Sounds from the pit, which may have been someone pounding on the pipelines, were heard on Friday morning, CCTV news reported. One of the rescue workers told Reuters they had found a piece of wire tied onto a pipeline sent into the flooded zone.
But five days of rescue efforts have reduced water levels barely a meter, the Xinhua report added.
“The pipelines are too thin to pump water fast enough,” the daughter of a trapped miner told Reuters, requesting anonymity.
“My father will not be killed by the flooding, but by these rescuers,” she added.
China has ordered the consolidation or takeover of many private mines in order to improve oversight and safety.
It credits the shutdown of many of the most dangerous private mines with helping to reduce the death toll in the coal industry to about 2,600 last year from over 3,000 the year before.
But the deadliest accidents are not limited to private firms. The Wangjialing mine was a high-profile project belonging to a joint venture between China National Coal Group and Shanxi Coking Coal Group, two of China’s larger state-owned firms.
Relatives and some Chinese media have blamed the firms for ignoring safety requirements in their push to start operations.
Miners found water in the pit as early as three days before the accident, but the managers just said: “How can you be afraid of a little bit of water?” the worker surnamed Li said.
“They did not treat migrant workers as human beings,” he added.
(Writing by Yu Le and Emma Graham-Harrison; Editing by Benjamin Kang Lim and Jerry Norton)
At least 153 people remained trapped in an accident-hit mine in north China’s Shanxi Province as rescuers struggled to save the miners from a pit that was flooded on Sunday.
A total of 261 miners were working in the pit of Wangjialing Coal Mine under construction when underground water gushed in last afternoon, in the latest mining mishap to hit the world’s largest coal producer.
Of them, 108 were lifted safely to the ground while 153 others are believed to be trapped in the shaft, official Xinhua said quoting officials of the rescue headquarters.
“Most of the trapped are migrant workers from Shanxi, Hebei, Hunan and Guizhou provinces,” a rescuer said. The exact number of people trapped is still being checked.
Soon after the accident, the Shanxi Provincial Work Safety Administration and the Shanxi Provincial Emergency Affairs Office said 152 people were trapped underground, but officials later changed the figure to 123.
Rescuers are struggling to save the trapped people, and local authorities are investigating the cause of the accident.
President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao ordered local authorities to spare no effort to save the trapped while guarding against secondary accidents.
Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang rushed to the site last night to oversee the search and rescue operation.
The mine, located between Xiangning County of Linfen City and Hejin City of Yuncheng City, covers about 180 square kilometers.
The mining zone boasts more than 2.3 billion tonnes of coal reserves, including nearly 1.04 billion tonnes of proved reserves, according to the company’s official website.
It is now under infrastructure construction and is expected to produce six million tonnes of coal annually once put into operation.
The mine, affiliated to the state-owned Huajin Coking Coal Co Ltd, is a major project approved by the provincial government.
This is the second mine accident this month in energy hungry China where frequent coal mine accidents are reported despite assertions by the government of improving safety measures.
Earlier this month, 31 miners were trapped in a flooded coal mine in the Inner Mongolia region of China.
Twenty people died in an illegal coal mine in central China, after a fire broke out there.
According to recently released official figures, 2,631 coal miners died in 1,616 mine accidents in China in 2009, down by 18 per cent from the previous year.
The government says the fall was due to a tightening of regulations and the closure of some 1,000 smaller and less well-regulated mines.
Agencies
Mon, Mar 29 11:10 AM
REUTERS – The number of workers trapped by flooding in an unfinished Chinese coal mine has risen to 153, state media reported late on Sunday, in what could be among the worst accidents in the deadly Chinese industry in recent years.
Some 108 men were lifted to safety on Sunday afternoon after water surged into a pit that was still under construction at the Wangjialing Coal Mine in northern Shanxi province, the official Xinhua agency reported.
Below are some of the world’s worst mining disasters:
WORST EVER
China holds the record for the largest number of people killed in a single mining disaster. On April 26, 1942, 1,572 people were killed in an explosion at Honkeiko coal mine.
SOME RECENT MAJOR MINING DISASTERS:
* August 1990 – BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA – 180 coal miners are killed after a gas explosion causes the main pit shaft to cave in at a colliery in Dobrnja, near Tuzla.
* April 1991 – CHINA – A gas explosion kills 147 coal miners at the Sanjiao River mine in Shanxi province in northern China.
* March 2000 – UKRAINE – At least 80 miners are killed in a methane gas explosion at Barakova coal mine in Luhansk — the country’s worst mining disaster since independence in 1991.
* October 2004 – CHINA – The Daping mine in Henan province explodes, killing 148.
* November 2004 – CHINA – A gas explosion tears through the state-owned Chenjiashan Coalmine in Shaanxi province; 166 miners are killed and more than 120 escape.
* February 2005 – CHINA – A gas explosion at the Sunjiawan colliery of state-owned Fuxin Coal Industry Group kills 214.
* November 2005 – CHINA – A gas explosion kills 169 people at state-owned Dongfeng coal mine in Heilongjiang province.
* September 2006 – INDIA – Fifty miners are killed after the roof of a coal mine collapses following an explosion in the eastern state of Jharkhand.
* September 2006 – KAZAKHSTAN – At least 41 people are killed after an underground explosion at Mittal’s Lenin mine.
* March 2007 – RUSSIA – Blast rips through Siberian coal mine, killing at least 110 people.
* May 2007 – RUSSIA – Thirty-eight miners are killed in a methane explosion at the Yubileynaya mine in Siberia.
* September 2007 – CHINA – Coal mine shaft floods in the eastern province of Shandong, killing 181 miners.
* October 2007 – SOUTH AFRICA – Some 3,200 miners are trapped underground at a South African mine belonging to the world’s fifth-biggest gold producer.
* November 2007 – UKRAINE – A methane explosion rips through a mine, killing at least 100 miners.
* September 2008 – CHINA – A mudslide caused by the collapse of a mine waste reservoir in northern China kills 254.
* November 2009 – CHINA – A gas explosion at a coal mine in northeast China kills 104.
* March 2010 – SIERRA LEONE – At least 200 people are killed when a trench collapses at a gold mine in Sierra Leone.
(Writing by David Cutler, London Editorial Reference Unit and Emma Graham-Harrison in Beijing; Editing by Paul Tait)
The number of workers trapped by flooding in an unfinished Chinese coal mine has risen to 153, state media reported, in what could be one of the worst disasters to hit the deadly industry in recent years.
Some 108 men were lifted to safety when water surged into a pit that was still under construction on Sunday afternoon, the official Xinhua agency reported, quoting rescue headquarters at the Wangjialing Coal Mine in northern Shanxi province.
Dozens of rescuers lined up in the grey light of dawn on Monday to enter the mine in hopes of finding survivors or recovering bodies. Some of the rescuers carried huge segments of pipe for pumping out water.
Officials are still checking the number of workers trapped. They had originally put the figure at 123.
Most of the 261 workers believed to have been underground at the time of the accident were migrants, some from as far away as southern Hunan and Guizhou provinces, with no better employment options than the wages offered by the risky mining industry.
China has the world’s deadliest coal-mining industry, with more than 3,000 people killed in mine floods, explosions, collapses and other accidents in 2008 alone.
A gas blast at a coal pit in northeastern China in November killed at least 104 miners, while 74 died in an explosion in February at another mine in Shanxi, a coal-rich area.
After the February blast, provincial governor Wang Jun, who had been promoted to the post after campaigning to reduce mine deaths as the head of the State Administration of Work Safety, broke down while apologising to the families of victims.
Compared with other manual jobs, Chinese coal miners can earn relatively high wages, tempting workers and farmers to take jobs in rickety and poorly ventilated shafts.
Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang, an unusually senior official, has gone to the Wangjialing mine to supervise rescue operations personally, and ensure they do not trigger a second disaster.
The mine covers an area of around 180 sq km near the heavily polluted mining hub of Linfen.
Affiliated to state-owned Huajin Coking Coal Co. Ltd., it is a major government-approved project and is expected to produce about 6 million tonnes of coal a year when it comes on line.
A majority of Chinese mining accidents have occurred in small operations and a campaign in recent years to close thousands of such pits has helped cut the industry’s annual death toll.
But demand for coal to fuel the country’s strong economic growth means some reopen illegally or flout official rules, and there have also been some accidents at larger outfits.
(Editing by Ken Wills and Paul Tait)
Rescuers were searching for more than 120 coal miners trapped when a pit under construction in north China’s Shanxi province flooded on Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
About 123 people were trapped in the pit of the Wangjialing coal mine after underground water gushed in, though 138 miners escaped, Xinhua said, quoting provincial work safety officials.
The mine, sitting astride Xiangning county and Hejin city, covers about 180 sq km, Xinhua said, adding that the mining zone holds more than 2.3 billion tonnes of coal reserves, including nearly 1.04 billion tonnes of proven reserves.
The mine, affiliated to the state-owned Huajin Coking Coal Co. Ltd., is expected to produce 6 million tonnes of coal annually once put into operation, the agency said. It is a key project approved by the provincial government.
Strong demand for energy and lax safety standards have made China’s mines the most dangerous in the world, despite the government’s drive to clamp down on tiny, unsafe operations where most accidents occur.
The number of people who have died in Chinese coal mines dropped to 2,631 in 2009, an average of seven a day, from 3,215 in 2008, according to official statistics.
(Reporting by Benjamin Kang Lim, editing by Tim Pearce)
(Reuters) – Rescuers were searching for more than 120 coal miners trapped when a pit under construction in north China’s Shanxi province flooded on Sunday, the official Xinhua news agency reported.
World
About 123 people were trapped in the pit of the Wangjialing coal mine after underground water gushed in, though 138 miners escaped, Xinhua said, quoting provincial work safety officials.
The mine, sitting astride Xiangning county and Hejin city, covers about 180 sq km, Xinhua said, adding that the mining zone holds more than 2.3 billion tons of coal reserves, including nearly 1.04 billion tons of proven reserves.
The mine, affiliated to the state-owned Huajin Coking Coal Co. Ltd., is expected to produce 6 million tons of coal annually once put into operation, the agency said. It is a key project approved by the provincial government.
Strong demand for energy and lax safety standards have made China’s mines the most dangerous in the world, despite the government’s drive to clamp down on tiny, unsafe operations where most accidents occur.
The number of people who have died in Chinese coal mines dropped to 2,631 in 2009, an average of seven a day, from 3,215 in 2008, according to official statistics.
(Reporting by Benjamin Kang Lim, editing by Tim Pearce)
Beijing, June 30 (ANI): The emergency call made by Michael Jackson’s doctor after finding him unconscious has unexpectedly prompted Chinese netizens to criticize their country’s emergency medical system.
Netizens praised the American 911 dispatcher who handled the Jackson emergency call and criticized differences between the Chinese and American emergency services on popular Internet portals.
“China’s emergency medical service is not as careful as its American counterpart. The Chinese emergency medical sector should learn from the American emergency medical experience to better serve its citizens,” China Daily quoted Zhang Han, a Beijing blogger, as writing on Sina.com.
In a transcript released of the 911 call, the cool-headed operator asks Jackson’s age, address and condition and then instructs the caller to put the singer on the floor and pump his chest.
“From their conversation, I can see American medical staffs’ devoted attitude to the job and their expertise,” a netizen said on club.kdnet.net.
Zhang Weihong, from central Shanxi province, said that she was dissatisfied with the emergency 120 service after calling an ambulance for her husband when he collapsed suddenly a few weeks ago.
“The ambulance came 10 minutes later but only a driver and a doctor were on board. I was forced to ask neighbours to help carry the stretcher to the ambulance,” she said.
Li Jianren, a doctor with Beijing Emergency Medical Center (BEMC), said that China should adopt the US system, in which non-professional emergency staff are on hand to assist the patient.
“North American countries have an emergency medical personnel accreditation system, which we don’t have,” Li said. (ANI)
New Delhi, June 22 (ANI): Here’s where nature may have gone wrong, for an unusual pair of a cat and a dog have been raising a litter of puppies together under the same roof.
Owner He revealed that he got the two animals together years ago in his house in Jincheng, Shanxi province.
Both became mommies and gave birth to their respective breeds.
He, however, gave away the kittens to ease the pressure, reports the China Daily.
But to his surprise, the cat appeared to have adopted the puppies as her own, and even breastfeeds them. (ANI)
Taiyuan (China), Apr.22 (ANI): China is scheduled to launch a new remote-sensing satellite into the space Wednesday, a spokesman with the Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in north Shanxi Province said.
Both the satellite, “Yaogan VI,” and the Long March 2C carrier rocket were in sound condition and the preparation work was well underway, Xinhua quoted the spokesman, as saying.
China has so far launched five remote-sensing satellites.
The spokesman didn’t specify the usage of the satellite, but the previous ones have been used for data collection and transmission involving scientific experiments, land resource surveys, crop yield estimates, and disaster prevention and reduction.
The first Chinese remote-sensing satellite blasted off in April2006, and four more were launched in 2007 and 2008. (ANI)
Beijing, Jan.27 (ANI): An 18-year-old man died from bird flu on Monday in south China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, the fifth human death from the H5N1 virus in China this year.
According to a press release posted on the website of the Ministry of Health, the man surnamed Liang fell ill on January 19 in Beiliu City of Guangxi.
Liang was transferred to Yulin Municipal Red Cross Hospital on January 24. He died on Monday.
A Xinhua report said that the young man tested positive for the H5N1 strain of avian influenza, according to the test result on Monday from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention.
Guangxi has launched an emergency response against the virus. Those who had close contact with the patient are under medical observation. No one has been found ill so far.
The ministry said it had reported the case to the World Health Organization and informed the health authorities of China’s Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.
Previously, China had reported six human bird flu cases this year, including four deaths. The first death was a 19-year-old woman in Beijing on January 5, followed by a 27-year-old woman in Shandong on January 17, a 16-year-old boy in Hunan on January 20, a 31-year-old woman in Xinjiang on January 23. A 2-year-old girl in north China’s Shanxi Province who was critically ill with the disease was out of danger Friday after her vital signs remained stable for six consecutive days.
A 29-year-old man who had been confirmed as infected with bird flu in southwest China’s Guizhou Province on Sunday is still in critical condition, local authorities said.
Shandong and Shanxi ended the emergency response to bird flu on Saturday and Sunday separately. (ANI)
Copyright © 2013 · eleven40 theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in