At least 24 miners have been killed and six are missing after
two separate colliery accidents in Hebei and Guizhou.
In north China's Hebei Province, a coalmine flooded at about
5:00 AM Saturday, trapping all 14 miners working underground at the
time.
All 14 miners are confirmed dead, the rescue operation
headquarters said on Monday.
Rescuers have found the bodies of the miners from the site of
the tragedy, the Yuanda Coal Mine in Xingtai City.
Owners of the coalmine have been detained by local police and
investigations into the cause of the flooding is underway.
In another development, rescuers have recovered 10 bodies, as of
Sunday, from the site of the coalmine gas blast in southwest
China's Guizhou Province, but six people are still missing,
according to the provincial work safety supervision bureau.
Twenty-five miners were working in the pit at the time of the
accident. The explosion, which happened early on Friday at the
Shagou colliery in Panlong Town, Liupanshui City, caused the mine
to cave in.
Nine of the miners escaped.
The chances of survival for the six missing miners are slim
because there is a high density of carbon monoxide underground,
experts at the site said.
Police have arrested the owner of the mine, a native of central
China's Hunan Province, who fled after the accident.
Shagou colliery has a designed annual output of 30,000 tons and
a technical reconstruction to increase capacity to 60,000 tons was
underway when the accident happened.
Search and rescue operations are continuing.
(Xinhua News Agency November 21, 2005)