[Broadcast on 14 May 2003]

On 14 May at around 4pm, a gas explosion occurred in a secondary shaft at the Luling Coalmine, part of the Huaibei Mineral Group, Anhui Province, when 114 people were working there. According to the State Administration Bureau for Coalmine Safety’s report on 14 May 28 were rescued, 50 were known to be dead and a further 36 missing. On 14 May, I asked the Control Room of Luling Coalmine who said that up until to 5:30pm on 14 May, 64 bodies had been found, and 22 were still missing:

Control Room:

The progress… yesterday… the bodies found have been brought to the mine entrance.

Han Dongfang (Han):

Well, up till now – it’s now 5:30pm, how many have been…

Control Room:

64 people (killed).

Han:

64? And their bodies have been brought up from the shaft?

Control Room:

The bodies are ready to be brought up.

Han:

They’re ready to be brought up?

Control Room:

Right.

Han:

Not a single body has been brought up yet?

Control Room:

Now… not yet. They are at the entrance – dead bodies.

Han:

The bodies are still down there?

Control Room:

Right.

Han:

Not yet…

Control Room:

At the entrance.

Han:

64 bodies at the entrance?

Control Room:

Yes.

Han:

How many are missing?

Control Room:

Probably about 22 (miners) are not yet found.

Han:

What’s the chance of survival for these 22 miners?

Control Room:

This… it’s difficult to say.

A staff member from the single person’s dormitory of the Luling Coalmine told me that no one from the singles dormitory was caught in this accident. She said that all victims were married:

Staff member:

No one in the single dormitory is involved (in the accident).

Han:

All (victims) are married?

Staff member:

Right, right. They are all married. No one has been rescued. The gas density is too high, and (the rescuers) dare not go in. There were 86 people down there, and they didn’t come out from the shaft.

Han:

All 86 people are missing?

Staff member:

Oh, these 86 people are probably dead.

Han:

Did the relatives do a search themselves?

Staff member:

They did come… but they can’t get it. They can only cry outside… The fact is that [the mine] doesn’t allow them to go inside – they can only cry at the gate. Seems that even people from Beijing have come.

Han:

Can the relatives of the workers identify those…

Staff member:

No! Definitely not!. They’re not allowed to see the bodies.

Han:

Why?

Staff member:

They would cry and shout - this disrupts the ‘order!’ (laugh)

A staff member from the Luling Coalmine Office confirmed that the relatives of the victims were not allowed to go to the mine:

Han:

Did any relatives go to the mine to search for the miners?

Mine Office:

No, no.

Han:

The accident occurred yesterday. Up till now, have the relatives gone there?

Mine Office:

They are not allowed to come here.

Han:

Why

Mine Office:

That… maybe…it can’t help much to let them come here. People are working there – they will do what they should do. The senior leadership has come here, right? The relatives will understand that things have to be done step by step. Now our first job is to rescue people, right? The accident… and the victims have not yet been rescued. So they will understand this.

Han:

Then these relatives are waiting at home, right?

Mine Office:

Yes, that’s correct. Waiting for information.

I called the Luling Coalmine hospital to learn more about the treatment of the injured. A doctor told me the following:

Doctor from Coalmine Hospital:

At present the situation in our hospital is not too bad – they are slightly injured, mostly burns. The extremely high temperature of the explosion hurt their backs…some received burns on the faces; people suffering from severe burns have been sent to the General Hospital for Huaibei Miners.

A worker of Luling Coalmine said that his relative was hurt in the accident. 60 percent of his body surface was burnt, and he has been transferred to the General Hospital for Huaibei Miners.

Miner:

A relative of mine is in the hospital.

Han:

That relative is in the hospital?

Miner:

Yep. Right! He is suffering severe burns, he is from Huaibei. He is an uncle of my kid.

Han:

Uncle of your kid?

Miner:

Right. He’s lying on the bed.

Han:

Is he still conscious?

Miner:

He is quite conscious, but suffering massive burns. 60% of his body surface. A case of massive burns.

Han:

How old is your kid’s uncle?

Miner:

He is about 30. He has a father and two kids, a daughter and a son; the elder one is 7 or 8, while the younger one 4 or 5. His wife is jobless.

I made a call to the burns unit of The General Hospital of Huaibei Miners. A nurse told me that the relative of this worker is severely injured, and the hospital has issued a notice of critical condition.

Huaibei Hospital Nurse:

Oh, he is in great danger now. The notice of critical condition has been issued.

Han:

Are the relatives here?

Huaibei Hospital Nurse:

They are all people from the work unit.

Han:

Any relatives of this worker?

Huaibei Hospital Nurse:

At present – No.

Han:

No relatives?

Huaibei Hospital Nurse:

The relatives are not allowed to come in!

Han:

The relatives can’t come in?

Huaibei Hospital Nurse:

Right.

Han:

How many patients have you received here?

Huaibei Hospital Nurse:

We’ve received 9 patients.

Han:

All 9 patients… in critical conditions?

Huaibei Hospital Nurse:

Well, 6 are in critical conditions. The others are not so serious, but they can’t take care of themselves now. The burns on their heads, faces and hands have been dressed!

A family member of a retired miner of Luling Coalmine told me that in this incident some miner’s families have lost 2 or even 3 family members. She said that the victim’s relatives have been sent to the surrounding mine areas. That’s why one can see any relatives:

Retired Miner family:

Oh, there are a few blocks [of miners housing], like the block in front of this – nobody is at home now; all relatives have been sent away. We can’t see anyone.

Han:

The relatives have been sent away?

Retired Miner family:

The relatives have been sent to other mine areas!

Han:

Why?

Retired Miner family:

There are too many mines in this area. Nowadays this mine is not properly managed. In this small district, a whole family (has been killed); in others, there are families who have lost 2 or 3 members. A son went to work with his father, and both met the accident in the same shift – the shift yesterday!

According to the figures from the State Administration Bureau for Coalmine Safety, in the first quarter of this year, 4.25 people were killed in the production of every million ton of coal. From 2 April to 7 April, Anhui Coalmine Safety Control Bureau has conducted a 6-day safety inspection in Huaibei’s coalmines, and released a report on the safety inspection of Huaibei coalmines. In this report, it is said that the coalmines in Luling have severe safety gaps. Among them is workstation No. 816, part of the problems here include; the wind speed in the inner air shaft (about 3-metre in the exterior air shaft) exceeds the standard and the telephone lines plugs of the elevator shaft are exposed in air. In workstation 824; air shaft no. 4 has not been equipped with protection facilities; there is no detection of toxic gas density after the close of air shafts and elevator shafts and before their restart and some miners do not bring along self-protection devices. Despite the release of this report in April, this extremely severe accident of gas explosion occurred in the Huaibei Mineral Group Luling Coalmine.