Coal mine blast kills 24, eight missing
(Xinhua/Reuters)
Updated: 2006-04-30 10:32
Twenty-four miners were confirmed dead and eight were missing after an
explosion tore through a coal mine in northwest China's Shaanxi province, the
official Xinhua News Agency reported on Sunday.
Ambulances and police cars wait at the
Dayaobao coal mine as rescue operation goes on April 30, 2006.
[Xinhua] | The blast shook the Wayaobao Coal Mine
in Yan'an at 4:20 p.m. Saturday after a gas build-up in the mine ignited,
Xinhua said.
Only seven miners managed to escape to the ground. Some 39
miners were working beneath the shaft when the tragedy occurred.
Unlike
many smaller mines across China, this one had all the necessary production and
safety permits, the report said.
More than 3,300 coal mine blasts,
floods and other accidents claimed nearly 6,000 lives across the country last
year, as mine owners -- motivated by soaring profits -- pushed production past
safe limits to fuel the booming economy.
The head of the national coal
mine safety watchdog said in early April that China would shut down all coal
mines with an annual output under 30,000 tons by the end of 2007. The Wayaobao
mine produced 31,000 tons in 2005, Xinhua reported.
But safety officials
have acknowledged that the crackdown on unsafe mines has run into considerable
resistance from owners and from local officials who often have a lucrative stake
in them.
|