74 dead, 114 injured, dozens trapped after coal mine blast in China

China’s mines are the world’s most dangerous with more than 3,000 deaths a year in fires, floods and explosions.   Â

 

The pre-dawn blast occurred while 436 workers were in the Tunlan Coal Mine in Gujiao city near Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, AFP reported the official Xinhua News Agency as saying. Some of the victims died after being rescued from the mine, and more than 300 miners escaped alive, it said.

 

A number of miners trapped at the site outside Taiyuan, capital of the main coal-producing province of Shanxi, reportedly called their families on mobile phones from underground.

 

President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao issued instructions to do everything possible to save those still trapped inside the mine, state television reported.

   

Most of the miners rushed to hospital after Sunday’s accident had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning, Xinhua said, citing doctors at the Xishan Hospital of Coal and Electricity.

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A total of 113 miners were under observation at hospital, including 21 whose injuries were "relatively serious," according to Xinhua.

   

It said that it was considered a relatively safe mine, with no accidents reported over the past decade.

 

The death toll makes this the most lethal accident reported in China’s disaster-prone mining industry since 105 people died in a mine explosion in December 2007, also in Shanxi.

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Although China has worked to cut mine accidents by closing more than 1,000 dangerous small mines last year, the country’s mining industry is still the worlds deadliest. About 3,200 people died in coal mine accidents last year, a 15 percent decline from the previous year.

 

However independent labor groups have long maintained that China’s mining death toll is much higher than the government says, as local mine bosses and regional leaders cover up accidents to avoid fines and costly mine shut downs.

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While China’s safety record is abysmal, the numbers mask great disparities. Large, state-run mines tend to have safety records nearing those of developed countries while smaller mines have little or no safety equipment and weak worker training.

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Government figures show that almost 80 percent of Chinas 16,000 mines are small, illegal operations.