On the same day that a China Coal Mine Safety Production Control conference opened in Beijing, officials from the city of Hancheng in Shaanxi province reported a massive gas explosion at a nearby coal mine. Forty seven miners died in the blast and four more were injured. In 1998, the mine was taken over by a new operator named Wu Xiudong but was closed in November 2000 on safety grounds. However, reports indicate that Wu reopened the mine and that it was operating illegally when the blast took place on April 21, 2001. The Hancheng Coal Mine Bureau said that Wu had fled and was wanted by the police.
Also on Saturday, two miners died after a roof tunnel collapsed on them 325 metres below the surface in a mine near Nanjing City, Jiangsu province.

The official death toll in China’s mines – widely regarded as dramatically underestimated – reached 845 for the first quarter of 2001. Even so, the figure is 180 higher than the same period for last year.


(China: Chinaonline 22/04/01, HK: SCMP 23/04/01)