Two miners have died but rescuers have saved six others trapped
on Monday in a midnight flood in a coal mine in north China's Shanxi Province, sources with the local safety
watchdog said Thursday.
The accident occurred at the village-run Muwagou Coal Mine in
Xiangning County in Linfen in the very early hours of Monday
morning. Thirteen miners were working underground, and five managed
to escape, an official with the provincial coal mine safety
supervision bureau said.
Rescuers managed to pull out six survivors but two others have
been confirmed dead, he said.
Investigators said the mine held a valid production permit and
business license, but its safety license had expired. An
investigation of the accident is underway.
Linfen, a city with more than 400 mines, suffered three deadly
mine disasters last month in which 32 people were killed.
Twenty-six miners died in a gas explosion at Yujialing Mine in
Yaodu district on March 28. The local government has sacked 35
officials over the three accidents.
In another coal mine blast which occurred on April 19 in the
Dashucun Coal Mine in north China's Hebei Province, 16 miners have been confirmed
dead and rescuers are still searching for another missing
miner.
Coal mine accidents killed 4,746 people in China in 2006.
(Xinhua News Agency April 27, 2007)