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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, May 20, 2002

Investigators Dig on Mine Disaster

The owner of a coal mine in North China's Shanxi Province in which 21 died spoke about the accident Sunday for the first time amid growing anger and allegations of a cover-up.


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21 Missing in Coal Mine Accident in North China
The owner of a coal mine in North China's Shanxi Province in which 21 died spoke about the accident Sunday for the first time amid growing anger and allegations of a cover-up.

"The disaster happened after a worker accidentally broke through an underground wall, and water and gas from a neighbouring coal mine flooded in," said Zhang Shunhe.

The State Administration of Production Safety set up a three-member team on Saturday to investigate what went wrong at the Fuyuan Coal Mine in Yuncheng and set up safeguards to prevent a repeat.

Authorities are also investigating whether the owner destroyed all employee records at the mine and transferred the corpses and remaining miners to other areas.

Two miners escaped; 21 died, officials said.

Fourteen of those killed came from Yunxi County in Central China's Hubei Province, said Yao Xiukui, one of the survivors.

More bodies could be found once all the water is pumped out, officials said.

The water level sunk 13.5 metres over the weekend; all of the water in the mine should be pumped out within three days, said Zhi Tongxiang, an official sent to the site to head up the investigation.

Zhi ordered provincial safety authorities to inspect all the coal mines in the province to make sure they are safe.

Dangerous working conditions in mines are a serious problem in China.

In a separate tragedy, five miners were killed in a bauxite mine water leak on Friday in Cangshan County in East China's Shandong Province. Two workers escaped.

Li Jiamin, the owner of the mine, is wanted for questioning; authorities suspect he has fled.


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