Six people are confirmed dead and three others are still missing
after a coalmine gas incident on Thursday night in Lengshuijiang
City, Hunan Province.
The missing miners are unlikely to survive as the ventilation
system has been ruined and tunnels blocked, and gas concentrations
remain dense underground, rescuers said on Sunday.
Xie Guangxiang, director of the provincial administration of
coal safety, instructed rescuers to alter their rescue plan and
work to avoid any further casualties.
A female miner who escaped is recovering in a local hospital.
But she is worried about her sister and sister's husband who are
trapped in the mine.
China's labor law forbids women from working in shafts.
Mayor of Lengshuijiang City, Liu Xiaolong, assured that the
local city government will take care of any children who are
orphaned as a result of the tragedy, in compliance with the
relevant laws and regulations.
At about 10:24?P.M. Thursday, a large amount of gas burst
into the shafts of the Dongtang Coal Mine when 14 miners, including
six women, were working underground.
Five miners managed to escape.
Yuan Xinzhong, head of the coal industry bureau of Lengshuijiang
city, said the Dongtang Coal Mine is a licensed colliery with an
annual production capacity of 10,000 tons.
In March, the Hunan provincial government ordered all coalmines
with high gas contents, including the Dongtang Coal Mine, to
suspend production. But Dongtang's operators ignored the order,
according to Yuan.
(Xinhua News Agency April 10, 2006)