27 Confirmed Dead from Blast in North China Mine

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, November 26, 2001

27 Confirmed Dead from Blast in North China Mine

Twenty-seven miners have been confirmed dead after a gas explosion at a coal mine in north China's Shanxi province, a local official said on Sunday.

A total of 27 miners had been confirmed dead by Sunday following a gas explosion that occurred on Thursday in Qiaojiagou coal mine of the Zhongyang County in the Luliang Prefecture, North China's Shanxi Province.

Fifty four workers were reportedly digging coal underground at the time of the explosion. Twenty seven of them have been rescued successfully.

This was the fifth tragedy out of a string of coal mine blasts that have taken place in the last 10 days in the province, which is a major coal production base in North China. The mine was officially ordered to suspend its production for safety reasons on Tuesday, but it paid no attention to the order and continued to operate.

The provincial government held a conference yesterday to discuss punishing those responsible for the recent five coal mine blasts that have killed a total of 85 people, China News Service reported Sunday.

The death toll is now expected to climb as 14 miners have been buried since an explosion took place in the Daquanwan coal mine in Datong on November 17. Rescue workers are still searching for 14 miners, who are believed to have been killed, sources with the Nanjiao District Police Bureau in Datong said last night.

The Party secretary and head of the Nanjiao District, the Party secretary and the vice-head of Jiaocheng County and the head of Zhongyang County were suspended of their positions and put under inspection, the provincial government announced yesterday.

Apart from the ones in Luliang Prefecture and Datong, accidents have occurred in Xiangyu mine in the city of Jincheng on November 18, claiming the lives of 14 workers; in Podi mine of Jiaocheng County on November 15, killing 33; and in Qingyu mine of Yuxian County on November 14, causing 11 deaths.

Most of the mines should have been closed down but were still in operation when the tragic accidents occurred.

The country has been working to shut down such small coal mines across the country because they are unsafe.

During the first 10 months of this year, 11,882 small coal mines have been closed down in the country and the total number of small coal mines have been cut from 82,000 to 23,000.

New Gas Explosion Kills at Least 16 Chinese Miners