Sixty miners had been confirmed dead as of 6:40 PM
on Sunday after an explosion at Xishui Colliery in northern Shanxi
Province, according to rescue headquarters at the site.
Rescuers told Xinhua they have found the bodies of
all 19 miners trapped in Kangjiayao Coal Mine, and 41 others were
discovered in Xishui Coal Mine.
Eight rescue teams are searching for nine miners
still missing underground in Xishui, according to sources with the
rescue headquarters.
The powerful blast ripped through Xishui at noon on
Saturday in Shuozhou, a city in a heavily mined area, and caused a
wall collapse in neighboring Kangjiayao.
President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao have
demanded relevant departments try their best to save the remaining
trapped men and instructed rescuers to pay attention to their own
safety. They also offered their sympathies to victims'
families.
Li Yizhong, director of the General Administration
of Work Safety (GAWS), and Zhao Tiechui, director of the State
Administration of Coal Mine Safety under the GAWS, arrived at
Shuozhou on Sunday morning to direct operations.
Built in 1993, Xishui was licensed with an annual
output of 150,000 tons of coal. But it was ordered to suspend
production after safety problems last November, according to the
provincial supervision office of coal mine production.
"In defiance of the order, however, mine owners
restarted production this year," said an official from the
supervision office.
The other mine, Kangjiayao, was running with
governmental approval for production.
(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2005)
