It snowed earlier this year in northern China and heating systems were switched on ahead of schedule to keep residents warm. Yet not many people are aware that this means more coal is being burnt, and even fewer would spare a thought for those who bring the fossil fuel from hundreds of meters under to the ground.

Until, that is, another big accident wakes us up to the extremely dangerous condition under which miners work. A gas explosion which took place early Saturday morning in a State-owned coalmine in Hegang of Heilongjiang province has claimed 92 lives and another 16 are still trapped in the shaft.

The cause of the accident is under investigation, and we do not know many details other than that the blast happened nearly an hour after gas was detected and an alarm raised. What we are sure about is that safety measures to prevent a gas explosion had not been strictly implemented. Chinese coalmines are never short of rules and regulations, which were revised and upgraded based on the experiences and lessons from so many accidents. But tragedies like the most recent one still cannot be prevented due to loopholes in implementation of safety measures.