[Broadcast on 22 October 2004]

According to information from the State Administration of Work Safety, rescuers were ready to get into the pit in the early morning of 22 October for further rescue work, after a fatal gas explosion took place at Zhengmei Coal Group’s Daping Coalmine in the evening of 20 October. A doctor from Zhengmei Hospital’s Number Three Surgery Ward told us that three injured miners who had been admitted to the hospital and transferred to his ward were slightly injured, but he wondered why no families had visited them so far.

Doctor:

There are three [of the injured miners] in my ward. They all have brain injuries. They were hit by the blast wave. One has a wound, one suffers from brain hypoxia, but generally speaking, they are not badly injured.

Han Dongfang [Han]:

How old are they?

Doctor:

Two are in their 30s and one is in his 50s.

Han:

Have their families been accompanying them?

Doctor:

No, no families here. Only our nurses are looking after them.

Han:

Why don’t you let the family accompany them?

Doctor:

They haven’t come yet.

Han:

Are they on their way or what?

Doctor:

Some are locals and they have other things to do. I guess they stay in the mine area; that is why they are not coming.

A nurse from the hospital’s Number 4 Surgical Ward said seven other injured miners in her ward were all severely injured and were still in a critical condition. Two of them breathed in the gas and had their windpipes burned.

Nurse:

There are seven injured miners in my ward and they are still in critical conditions. They are burned after the gas explosion. You know, the air they breathed in burned their windpipes.

Han:

How old are they?

Nurse:

The eldest is 45 and the youngest is only in his 20s.

Han:

Are they all conscious?

Nurse:

Yes, they are. We have treated this kind of patients before. They are usually conscious and some of them would remain conscious even when they are dying.

In a kindergarten run by Daping Coalmine, a teacher said two miners’ children in her class had not heard anything about their fathers since the accident.

Teacher:

There are two in my class; the children are only four years old – a boy and a girl.

Han:

Only four years old?

Teacher:

Yes, they live nearby, both from the village, and their fathers, oh… what can I say… Now the teachers don’t have any smiles. We simply can’t smile! We tell the kids, “Don’t worry, be calm!” But we can’t tell them the details. They are too young to understand it and I don’t know how to tell them. You know that there is an accident in the mine. The children are very smart. They sense it and say:
“Oh, something happened at his [the classmate’s] home.” And I couldn’t let them say more. I feel so sad to listen to their words, really upset.

Zhou Wanyin, a 29-year-old miner, has a four-year old child. Zhou was working in the mine when the blast broke out and his family has not received any news about him yet. Though the coalmine is under curfew and nobody is allowed to get in, his family decides to wait at the coalmine instead of staying at home. His neighbour told CLB his story:

Neighbour:

My neighbour [is a miner] and his family is waiting for news about him. The mining company said they would inform them once they got any news about him and they would try their best to rescue him.

Han:

Is the family waiting at home?

Neighbour:

They are waiting outside.

Han:

Waiting outside?

Neighbour:

Yes.

Han:

Where?

Neighbour:

At the coalmine.

Han:

Waiting at the coalmine?

Neighbour:

Right.

Han:

Does the mining company allow people to get in the mine?

Neighbour:

No, but they would get so panic if they stay at home.

Han:

They get panic if they stay at home?

Neighbour:

Yes.

Han:

Has the mining company told them how likely they can find the miners alive?

Neighbour:

They usually say… there is still hope.

State Administration of Work Safety’s online statistics show that by 10 am of 22 October, 64 corpses had been found and 84 miners were still trapped in the pit. At 6 pm the same day, a member of staff of the coalmine’s control room told us that they had found 65 corpses and 83 miners were still missing.

Control Room:

We don’t have much progress for the rescue work. So far we have found 65.

Han:

65?

Control Room:

65 bodies.

Han:

So three more than yesterday.

Control Room:

Right.

Han:

Do you know how long the distance for the collapsed roof along the coalmine is after the explosion?

Control Room:

We don’t know yet. We don’t even know if anyone can get in. We can only know more about that after we get in.

Han:

How many people are still in the pit?

Control Room:

83.

Han:

83?

Control Room:

Yes.

Han:

And how are you going to carry out the rescue work?

Control Room:

We have leaders stationing here to give instructions on rescue work…Now, well… the exact plan is that… well, you know those officials do task step by step, and if you ask me about the concrete plan, I can’t really tell.

Han:

Is it possible to find any miners alive?

Control Room:

Oh, not very likely.

Han:

Not likely?

Control Room:

No, very slim chance.

Han:

Okay, thank you very much!

Control Room:

Welcome.

Han:

You must have a hard day.

Control Room:

Well, it is fine.

Han:

Bye!

Control Room:

Bye!

In Xinhua Net’s report, Daping Coalmine, under Zhengzhou Coal Industry Group [Zhengmei], was 60 km from Zhengzhou, the provincial city of Henan. Zhengmei established the coalmine on 1 June 1982 and it went into production since 28 June 1986. The preliminary estimation of coal production was 600,000 tons per year and was later raised to 1.3 million tons per year. It is categorized as a high gaseous mine. Daping Coalmine employs some 4,100 workers, who are mainly migrant workers from Henan, Shandong, Anhui and Sichuan Provinces. Most of the victims in this accident are from Henan and 95% of them are contract migrant workers.