Local authorities have detained two coal mine owners for
ignoring government orders to close their mines, which has led to
seven miners being trapped by a flooding accident that happened on
Tuesday in northeast China's Liaoning Province.
"Cui Jingzhu and Gao Sihai are assisting the investigation into
the accident which occurred at around 8:00 PM Tuesday in Benxi
Autonomous County of Manchu Nationality," a police statement
read.
They were found to have continued mining in the collieries even
though the county government called a halt to production for safety
checks last December. "They resorted to night production after
their collieries were sealed up on January 5," the local
authorities said.
Four days later, Cui Jingzhu's coal mine was flooded, also
affecting the adjacent mine run by Gao Sihai.
Chances of survival for the seven miners still missing appear
slim. "The seven trapped miners are still missing as the tunnels
were more than 50 meters under the current water level," said Fu
Zhenyi, head of the rescue team.
(Xinhua News Agency January 12, 2007)