Blasts in Shanxi Province that killed 21 persons and left seven missing is caused by illegal mining and scrambling for coal resources, and related individuals are under police interrogation, an official said Sunday.
The accident happened Wednesday when 28 people in Huizu Village of Wangyu Township entered a deserted shaft after one of them found the shaft had been connected with a coal mine in neighboring Chenjiayuan Village.
The exact cause for the accident is still under investigation, but it can be confirmed by now that the people from the two villages carried explosives when they went underground, said Duan Jianguo, deputy secretary-general of the provincial government.
In the connecting shaft and coal mine, rescuers found two explosive sites 150 meters apart from each other, which, the police say, might be evidence of at least two blasts underground.
The police said Zeng Yuxiu, head of Huizu Village, got control of the deserted shaft for illegal mining, while the coal mine of Chenjiayuan Village is also an illegal one owned by Pang Longhu.
Zeng is still stranded underground along with six other fellow villagers with little chance of survival, rescuers said.
Pang Longhu has been detained by the police and confessed that he had asked four miners to set illegally-made explosives at the mouth of the shaft Tuesday and detonated them later. One of them was killed in the blast and the three others ran away.
A total of 21 bodies have been retrieved, said Duan Jianguo, and rescue operations and further investigations are underway.
(Xinhua News Agency February 8, 2004)
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