Rescue workers have confirmed altogether 14 miners were killed
in a coal pit gas deflagration in mountainous Weining County,
southwest China's Guizhou Province.
The efforts to hoist the bodies of the killed miners were
thwarted because of the high concentration of toxic gas in the
200-meter-long underground passage for coal digging, said an
official in charge of the rescue operation Wednesday.
Gas deflagration happened at a coal pit near Titian Village of
Dongfeng Township in northwestern Guizhou, around 8?PM
Tuesday, but was not reported to the Guizhou Provincial Bureau of
Work Safety until early Wednesday, sources from the bureau
said.
The coal pit only has a single shaft but got no ventilation
facility. It didn't obtain a permit for coal production. The gas
deflagration occurred when the gas accumulated in the shaft met
with a spark of fire.
Most of the killed were locals. The two owners of the illegal
coal pit have fled and the police have been hunting them down.
A team sent by Guizhou Provincial Bureau of Work Safety and
Guizhou Provincial Bureau of Coal Mine Safety rushed to the site to
help handle the aftermath of the accident.
Cause of the accident is under further investigation.
Like gas blast, gas deflagration is also listed as a major
hazard for the coal mining industry, as the burning produces a
great amount of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and intense
heat.
(Xinhua News Agency May 4, 2006)