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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Grim quiet at China mine


Miners wait for news of others at Sunjiawan coal mine in Fuxin, northeast China, on Tuesday. 
 (Associated Press / The Spokesman-Review)
Associated Press

FUXIN, China – Three years after a promised overhaul of China’s workplace safety system, an explosion deep in a coal shaft killed 209 miners and left six more missing, officials said Wednesday in its worst reported mining disaster since communist rule began in 1949.

Dozens of rescuers working through the night recovered six more victims from Monday’s blast in the Sunjiawan coal mine in northeastern Liaoning province.

The cause of the gas explosion, which went off about 794 feet below the surface, was under investigation, state media said.

A thick cordon of men in matching dark coats and helmets stood side by side blocking the entrance to the mine late Tuesday, as cars full of paramilitary police patrolled the site.

“Mining is just too dangerous, but it’s a struggle to find work here,” said Zhang Qiang, a Fuxin native who said he performs odd jobs to make ends meet.

By early Wednesday, the area outside the mine was quiet. The entrance was blocked off, but there was no sign outside of rescue activity.

A convoy of white hospital vans filled with men in hardhats was seen traveling from the mine to nearby Fuxin, a gritty, soot-covered city of 1 million where mining is the main industry.

Fuxin lies in China’s northeastern rust belt — a region that teems with inefficient state-owned industries saddled with outdated equipment. The government has said it would do more to ease unemployment in the region, amid rising discontent.

Twenty-eight injured miners lay in hospital beds Tuesday, suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, burns and fractures. All were in stable condition, except for one who was in a coma because of a head injury caused by flying debris, the Xinhua News Agency said.

Some 30 family members of the victims were also hospitalized “due to deep grief,” it said. A police van stood outside the hospital.

State television showed Hua Jianwen, a member of China’s Cabinet, watching as rescuers descended into the mine to look for survivors and later standing over the hospital bed of a miner with severe burns on his face.

In October 2002, the government created China’s first safety laws and launched a nationwide effort that included workplace inspectors. Despite those efforts, deadly accidents have continued to plague the country’s coal mines and factories.

Last year more than 6,000 miners died in fires, floods and explosions — an average of about 16 workers per day. The country accounts for 80 percent of the world’s coal mining fatalities.

Experts say the new laws have not been matched with adequate education or enforcement and many blame China’s booming economy, and its demand for coal, for tempting mine owners and workers to cut corners when it comes to safety.