China mine death tolls hits 56; 36 trapped

[September 10, 2009]  BEIJING (AP) -- More than 20 officials and mine managers have been fired, suspended or arrested after accidents in two mines in a central Chinese province left 56 dead and another 36 missing with little hope of survival.

Eight officials at a gold mine that caught fire and 13 with an illegal coal mine that suffered an explosion earlier this week are being held responsible for the disasters, the official Xinhua News Agency reported late Wednesday.

Electrical wires that were severed during a cave-in sparked a fire at the gold mine in Henan province Tuesday. Six gold miners and seven rescuers were trapped underground by the blaze and died, Xinhua said. Six miners escaped the blaze, it said.

The accident Tuesday evening came hours after the explosion at the coal mine where 93 men had been working underground.

The death toll from that blast rose to 43 Wednesday with 14 injured and another 36 men still trapped inside, Xinhua said.

A statement on the State Administration of Work Safety's Web site Thursday said the cause for the pre-dawn coal mine explosion was still under investigation. It said only 14 miners managed to flee to safety.

State Administration of Work Safety director, Luo Lin, called for a strengthening of work safety measures across the country to ensure stable economic development, according to the Web site's report

Xinhua said the coal mine was operating illegally and that its owners had been placed under police surveillance and the company's bank accounts frozen.

The Xinhua No. 4 pit was undergoing an overhaul and had not been allowed by the government of Pingdingshan city to resume production, said a local Communist Party spokesman, according to Xinhua.

Pingdingshan authorities ordered all of the city's 157 coal mines to suspend production for a safety overhaul.

Calls to the local government and mine operators rang unanswered Thursday.

China's mines remain the world's deadliest, although the closing of many small, dangerous mines has halved the average number of miners killed to about six a day in the first half of this year.

Most accidents are blamed on failures to follow safety rules, including a lack of required ventilation or fire control equipment.

[Associated Press]

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