As of Wednesday morning, 209 miners were confirmed dead, 29
injured and?six missing in Monday afternoon's deadly coal mine
gas explosion in Fuxin, Liaoning Province.
Zhang Yunfu, deputy general manager of the Fuxin Coal Industry
Group, said the blast occurred at 3:03 PM Monday in a shaft about
242 meters underground at the Sunjiawan colliery's Haizhou
mine.
According to Zhang, 330 of the 574 miners on duty escaped and
244 were trapped underground. Rescue efforts are continuing for the
12 who remain missing.
President Hu Jintao
has directed the local governments to spare no effort to save the
missing miners, and Premier Wen
Jiabao and Vice Premier Huang Ju
also instructed local officials to determine the cause of the
accident and deal with the aftermath.
A work team led by State Councilor Hua
Jianmin arrived at the accident site Tuesday morning to oversee
rescue, recovery and compensation operations.
Medical experts have been dispatched by the Chinese Medical
Sciences University's First Hospital in Shenyang, the provincial
capital. They will assist in treating the injured, most of whom are
at the Fuxin group's general hospital.
The Sunjiawan colliery employs 3,100 workers in two mines. The
Haizhou mine produces 1.5 million tons of coal annually.
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(Xinhua News Agency February 16, 2005)
