Mine Disaster: Can Truth Be Out When Water Recedes?

Li Rongrong, minister of the State Economic and Trade Commission (SETC), urged Saturday, August 4 in Nandan County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, that the search for victims of a tin mine accident should be sped up and all-out efforts made to rescue possible survivors.

Regional Party Chief Cao Bochun and Chairman of the Autonomous Region Li Zhaozhuo also demanded trail to the bottom of the disaster and make explanations to the whole society.

But how can the truth be brought to light?

Truth may not emerge even if water subsides

People's Daily Online reporters who rushed to the spot feel deeply the difficulty in digging out all of the possible victims.

As is known, the flooded mine is 730-meter deep (of which over 100 meter below sea level) and 70-meter wide. There is only one mining license but 7 private companies were fighting for tin mining here.

Local people say this is a mine rich in tin more valuable than gold. So these greedy bosses, regardless of law, had been madly driving more than 2000 workers mining for them 24 hours on three shifts in pits of the 7 companies before the accident happened.

In the morning of August 4, reporters saw armed police guarding entrance of the mine, and water was being pumped out and wind blown in by air compressors. According to Zhao Guihua, a regional chief in charge of straightening out mining orders, currently there are 150,000 to 200,000 cubic meters of water at the press time in the mine and it needs 20 days to pump all of it out. The time may be longer considering the fact water is continuing leaking in. By August 5, all production in the mine had been halted and most of the 2000 workers had returned to their hometown, leaving only 200 people working around the clock to guarantee pumping water out. But from August 4, 7am to August 5, 7am, the water level only lowered by one meter.

A batch of miners interviewed say temperature in the mine is as much high as 40 to 50 Celsius degrees, and telephones can not be installed in because they get rusty in a few days.

Experts point out that victims' bodies have been soaked in hot water for 18 days since the accident occurred on July 17 and may get entirely putrid after all water will have been pumped out in 20 days. By then it is even difficult to find out their bones buried in mud. Some miners even say frankly the water pumping is in vain for the bodies, soaked in hot water, just like things stewed in a huge pot of soup over a slow fire. After 40 days it is practically impossible to recover their bones considering movements of sands, stones and water.



There are other ways aside from pumping water out

Is it the only way to pump all water out for identifying the victims and getting the death toll verified?

One suggestion is that: find out the name book of the 2000 miners kept in the hand of the 7 private companies to get to know the actual death number of the victims. A person in charge of recording miners' working shifts tells reporter secretively that every time he draws a circle on every miner's name before he goes into the mine, and salary is paid according to those circles he drew by month end. At 7 am, July 17 when he took his turn on duty, he didn't see turning up of night shift miners of July 16, neither going down of next shift miners. Therefore the death toll can be entirely verified by consulting the name list of July. When asked to show the book, he says it has been submitted to the office at month end according to company regulations.

Some people advise to immediately get hold of mine boss Li Dongming's compensation list, or count the victims number according to the amount of money Li drew from banks around July 17, and the miners' name book.

Still others say the most urgent thing is to find out related people in the know, such as those of staff in charge of miner files, company finance, especially survivors of the disaster.

By August 5, as this correspondent was told, on duty July 16 for roll-call is Li Jianian by name, Huang Chunxiao as miner file manager, a man surnamed Liang for managing miners going down that day, and Tan Naixiu, a survivor then found, is still living in the mining area.



By PD Online Staff Li Heng


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