China Labour Bulletin extends its utmost sympathy and heartfelt condolences to the families of the more than one hundred miners who lost their lives in the Hegang tragedy early on the morning of 21 November 2009.

As a sign of respect for the victims of this terrible accident, CLB’s website banner will remain dark for the next 48 hours.

This disaster occurred in a major state-owned mine, institutions the Chinese government claims are much safer than the small privately run mines it has been closing down over the last few years. But, as CLB director Han Dongfang pointed out in a commentary [2] just a few weeks ago, merely re-nationalizing coal mines will not, in and of itself, be the solution to China’s appalling coal mine safety record.

And as William Nee shows in today’s blog [3], this latest tragedy highlights the numerous and complex problems that still need to be addressed in China’s coal mines.