At the end of rescue operations yesterday, 53 miners were
confirmed dead as a result of a colliery explosion in north China's
Shanxi Province.
The rescue headquarters said 53 bodies had been retrieved.
Initially it was reported that 64 were working underground when the
blast occurred at the Linjiazhuang Coal Mine of Lingshi County,
Jinzhong City, at approximately 4:40 PM Saturday. However, rescuers
revised this figure to 59. ?
Six miners managed to escape and another was rescued, the
headquarters said. Another miner died from carbon monoxide
poisoning while helping with the rescue operations.
Families of the victims are expected to receive 200,000 yuan
(US$25,000) in compensation from the government, the local
authorities said.
Initial investigations show the coal dust explosion in the
illegal Linjiazhuang colliery was triggered by an unauthorized
explosion in the adjacent Xiamen mine. ?
The owner of Linjiazhuang Coal Mine and a deputy manager of
Xiamen Coal Mine, who was responsible for the unauthorized
explosion, have been questioned by local police. Local police have
frozen the bank accounts of the two mines.
Linjiazhuang Coal Mine was a village-run colliery before it
became a private operation while Xiamen is a state-owned coal
producer with an annual production capacity of 450,000 tons.
The city government of Jinzhong has launched a crackdown on all
illegal mines, urging that all mining activities be performed in
line with the safety regulations. ?
(Xinhua News Agency July 20, 2006)