By 1 p.m. on Sunday, 123 miners were rescued alive after a major
gas explosion took place at the Chenjiashan Coalmine, Shaanxi
Province, around 7:10 a.m., but another 170 remained trapped
underground.
Latest information from the Chenjiashan Coalmine, a state-owned
venture under the jurisdiction of the Tongchuan Mining
Administration, confirmed that there were 293 miners working
underground when the gas explosion happened at coal pits some 8,000
meters away from the ground entrance.
Those who escaped the gas explosion were mainly workers working
near the entrance. Some of them were poisoned by carbon monoxide,
said the information.
Main provincial Party and government leaders, including Li
Jianguo, secretary of the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the
Communist Party of China (CPC), and Chen Deming, acting governor of
Shaanxi, have all rushed to the site of the accident to organize
the rescue operation.
The Chenjiashan Coalmine is capable of producing 1.3 million
tons of coal a year.
Cause of the accident is under investigation.?
(Xinhua News Agency November 28, 2004)