One miner was confirmed dead and 14 others missing after a
coalmine gas blast in southwest China's
Guizhou Province on Sunday, local government sources said on
Monday.
The gas blast occurred in the Wulunshan Coal Mine in Nayong
County at about 10?PM Sunday when 104 miners were working
underground. 89 workers managed to escape, according to He Gang,
head of the Guizhou Provincial Administration of Production
Safety.
Such accidents are considered unfortunate natural geological
disasters. Large volumes of harmful, suffocating gas breaks out in
underground shafts and within a few seconds reaches such densities
that explosions are more than likely.
The state-owned Wulunshan Coal Mine is run by the Guizhou Energy
and Chemical Co. Ltd, a subsidiary of the state-owned Yanzhou Coal
Group in eastern Shandong Province, He Gang said.
Investigations into the cause of the accident are underway.
(Xinhua News Agency March 27, 2006)