Sixty miners were confirmed dead in
the Coalmine explosion in northern Shanxi Province as one more
bodies was found in the Xishui Colliery on Saturday evening,
according to the rescue headquarters at the site.
Rescuers told Xinhua they have
found bodies of all 19 trapped miners in the Kangjiayao Coalmine,
and 41 others were discovered in Xishui Coalmine.
Eight rescue teams are searching
for mine miners still trapped underground, according to sources
with the rescue headquarters.
The powerful blast ripped through the Xishui Coalmine at Saturday
noon in Shuozhou, a city in a major coal-mining area in Shanxi
province, and immediately caused a wall to collapse in the
neighboring Kangjiayao Coalmine.
Chinese President Hu Jintao and
Premier Wen Jiabao have demanded relevant departments try their
best to save the trapped and instructed rescuers to pay attention
to their own safety. They also mentioned to offer appropriate
comfort for victims' families.
Li Yizhong, director of the General
Administration of Work Safety (GAWS), and Zhao Tiechui, director of
the State Administration of Coalmine Safety under the GAWS, have
arrived at Shuozhou earlier Sunday morning to direct the rescue
operation.
Built in 1993, Xishui Coalmine is
licensed with an annual output of 150,000 tons of coal. But the
mine was ordered to suspend production after safety problems last
November, according to the provincial supervision office of
coalmine production.
"In defiance of the order, however,
mine owners have restarted production this year," said an official
with the office.
The other coalmine, Kangjiayao, that fell the victim of
Saturday's explosion, is a normal mine with governmental approval
for production.
(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2005)
