THE NUMBER OF FATALITIES IN THE CHINESE mine explosion Saturday morning has risen to 104 with 4 miners still missing. The gas explosion in the colliery was reported in Firegeezer HERE on Saturday and even by China’s standards was an especially devastating accident. Six people remain in the hospital with severe burns.
State-run CCTV has this video report:
ABC News Australia reports:
With the families of dead miners demanding answers, Chinese officials have slammed the safety provisions at the Xinxing mine. The head of the State Administration of Work Safety, Luo Lin, said the initial explosion was caused by poor ventilation which saw dangerous gas spread quickly.
He also said mine management was responsible for failing to evacuate workers quickly enough.
Xinhua News Agency reports that management did not abide by regulations that say that miners must be evacuated when gas density exceeding two per cent is detected. In this case, the density in the pit had risen to 10 per cent. “The mine has too many mining platforms in operation and has sent too many workers down the pit to increase output,” the government media quoted Zhao Tiechui, deputy head of the work safety agency, as saying.
The cause of the accident has been zeroed to poor ventilation in the mine besides poor mine management and inadequate precautions for the safety for workers. The accident happened due to a gas leak in one of the shafts, officials said. The gas poured into the main tunnel and triggered an explosion that shook 28 of the 30 mining platforms in operation because there was not enough ventilation to release the leaked gas.
Rescuers travel 1/4-mile underground
in search of victims.
Also on FireGeezer…
- Smelter Blast Kills 2 in France – June 25, 2011
- Grain Elevator Ka-Boom in Kansas, 3 Dead, Others Missing – October 30, 2011
- Plumber’s Work Van Explodes Killing Driver – December 12, 2011
- “Toilet Bites Man” – October 20, 2010
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