Fight to save 153 workers trapped in China mine

China mine accident belies safety promises
Xiangning, China (AFP) March 29, 2010 - China's latest coal mine disaster is a grim reminder that despite a safety push by the energy-hungry country, its lust for coal means each day is a roll of the dice for workers like Yan Heping. Huddling in the cold rain, Yan gave voice to the dangers faced daily by the industry's workers as rescuers looked Monday for 153 of his colleagues trapped in a flooded coal mine being built in the northern province of Shanxi. "It's no different from other mines I've worked on. It's always dangerous but we are doing what we are supposed to do," said Yan, 35, a local resident who was helping to build the massive mine. The Wangjialing pit, owned by the state-run Huajin Coking Coal Company, covers an area of 180 square kilometres (70 square miles) and flooded on Sunday when water from adjacent disused pits gushed in.

Such accidents are routine in China, whose mines are among the world's most dangerous because safety standards are widely flouted in the rush to feed the voracious and fast-growing energy demand of the world's third-largest economy. The government has responded in the past few years with a much-publicised safety campaign to shut unsafe mines that has closed at least 12,000, many of them in Shanxi, the nation's coal-producing heartland. The campaign has targeted mostly smaller, often illegal pits, in the belief that larger, state-owned mines were safer. But the Wangjialing disaster has shown that even state-linked facilities can turn into death traps. The project was given the green light by no less than the State Council, China's cabinet, headed by Premier Wen Jiabao. The disaster comes after 108 miners were killed in November when an explosion ripped through a mine belonging to another state-owned firm in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang. But people living in coal-dependent Shanxi sneer at government promises on safety.

"This goes to show that the whole reform is not effective. The reform is useless," Bao Wan, a transport worker in the city of Hejin, told AFP. "The reform has had a big impact as it has laid off a lot of miners, but as far as safety is concerned, it's useless." The government has said at least 2,600 people were killed in the country's collieries last year, down from previous years thanks to the safety drive. They spiked at over 6,000 several years ago. The numbers compare to 175 people killed in all US mining accidents in 2008, according to US government data. Despite the safety assurances -- and Beijing's promise to slow growth in carbon emissions produced in large part by heavily polluting coal -- China builds an average of two coal-fired power plants a week, according to analysts. Liu Yuqin, a spokeswoman for the Shanxi mine safety administration, said the latest accident would have no impact on the reform drive. "The direction of the reform is correct," she said. "The main reason for the mine reforms is to raise the level and standards of the mining industry in all areas, including safety." But workers told another story as they waited for word on their trapped colleagues. "It's always unsafe in the mines," said Wang Yin, a 24-year-old mine construction worker from nearby Hebei province. "People say there is still hope. We have got to do whatever we can."

by Staff Writers
Xiangning, China (AFP) March 29, 2010
Rescuers raced Tuesday to find 153 workers trapped in a flooded coal mine in northern China, as workers angrily accused mine management of ignoring warning signs of the impending disaster.

Two days after water gushed into the vast Wangjialing mine in Shanxi province, China's coal-producing heartland, the fate of the workers still missing after Sunday's accident remained unclear.

But officials warned toxic gas was building up in the pit, posing a threat to both the men trapped inside and rescuers trying to drain the mine in the latest incident to strike the notoriously dangerous industry.

If the missing are not rescued, the accident in rugged Xiangning county will be the deadliest in China in more than two years. In August 2007, 172 workers died in a mine flood in the eastern province of Shandong.

Liu Dezheng, vice-director of the Shanxi Work Safety Administration, told reporters late Monday that 970 rescuers were involved in the rescue effort.

"The coal mine has a high concentration of gas. Rescuers have to face the danger of toxic gas, while fighting the water," he said. "We must guard against secondary disasters."

Co-workers of the missing angrily accused mine officials of ordering them back into the half-built pit, even after water was discovered leaking into the mine on Thursday -- three days before the accident.

"Water continued to seep in in the days afterwards and we reported it, but there was no order to evacuate. Why didn't they do something about that?" a mine construction worker who gave only his surname, Shi, told AFP.

After a one-day shutdown on Saturday, workers said they were ordered back in on Sunday -- the day of the accident.

"A lot of workers didn't want to go back in because of the water leaks. But when your shift goes in, you can't refuse. You have to go," a worker surnamed Jiang said.

Beijing has ordered local authorities to go all-out to find the workers at the massive mine, which belongs to the state-owned Huajin Coking Coal Company and covers an area of 180 square kilometres (70 square miles).

Investigations so far have shown that 261 workers, mainly migrant workers from other provinces, were in the mine as water started to gush in.

Officials said 108 were brought to safety.

The China Daily newspaper quoted workers saying they believed even more men could be in the flooded pit.

"Those trapped are my workmates. I just want to try my best to save them," said one 40-year-old worker surnamed Xu, who told Xinhua news agency he had worked through the night to help position drainage equipment.

However, some complained about the mine's lack of preparedness for the disaster.

State media reports have said some pumping has begun but was proceeding slowly after authorities had to rush in additional pumping and drainage equipment. The mine did not have such equipment as it was not yet open.

"Why are they not pumping the water? They have got to start pumping the water and find these people," said a woman who gave her surname as Zhang, and who said three of her relatives were missing.

A preliminary probe showed water that had accumulated in nearby abandoned mines burst into the new pit, flooding it with enough water to fill about 50 Olympic-sized swimming pools.

"To survive down there around 1,000 metres underground would be very lucky," survivor Fan Leisheng told state television on Monday.

The colliery, presented as a first-class model of safety and efficiency on Huajin's website, was due to produce six million tonnes of coal a year.

Huajin itself is half-owned by China National Coal Group Corp, the country's second-largest coal producer and parent of Hong Kong-listed China Coal Energy.

Mines in the world's top coal-producing nation are among the most dangerous globally. More than 2,600 people were killed in the country's collieries last year, according to official figures.

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At least 152 trapped in flooded China coal mine: Xinhua
Beijing (AFP) March 28, 2010
At least 152 workers were trapped in a coal mine in northern China on Sunday after it flooded, state media reported, in the latest incident in the country's hazardous mining industry. A total of 261 miners were working in the pit when the accident took place Sunday afternoon in Shanxi province, and just over 100 of them managed to escape while the others remained trapped, the official Xinhua ... read more

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