As of 15 February, 203 coal miners are reported to have been killed, with 22 injured and 13 still trapped underground, following a devastating gas explosion on Monday afternoon at a state-owned coal mine in Fuxin, a city in China's northeast Liaoning Province.
According to official Chinese press reports, a geological disturbance took place at 2:50 PM on 14 February at the No.3316 working face of the Sunjiawan colliery, a part of the Fuxin Coal Industry Group. About ten minutes later, the gas blast occurred some 240 meters underground.
Rescue operations are said to have started immediately, and after a night of searching 203 miners were found dead.
According to the Los Angeles Times, "This is the worst reported accident since Communist rule began in 1949."
"At present, rescue workers are racing against time to find [the miners] and an investigation of the incident has been launched," the state-run news agency Xinhua said. A work team led by State Councilor Hua Jianmin arrived at the accident site this morning, and President Hu Jintao, Premier Wen Jiabao and Vice Premier Huang Ju have reportedly instructed local officials to rescue the victims, find out the cause of the accident and deal with the aftermath.
Chinas coal mines are notoriously dangerous and fatal accidents occur frequently, although usually only major accidents are reported in the official press. According to official statistics, 6,027 people were killed in coal-mine-related accidents last year, but some experts say the figure could be much higher since some mine owners pay off or threaten victims' families in an effort to conceal fatal accidents from the authorities.
The Sunjiawan coalmine disaster is only the latest and most serious in a recent spate of similar major tragedies in China. The Daping Coalmine disaster claimed 148 lives in October 2004, and only weeks later 166 miners were killed in a gas explosion at the Chenjiashan Coalmine in Tungchuan City, Shaanxi Province on 28 November.
Sources: Xinhua, SCMP, Ming Pao and Los Angeles Times
15 February 2005