By 1 p.m. on Sunday, 123 miners were rescued alive after a major gas
explosion took place at the Chenjiashan Coalmine, Shaanxi Province, around 7:10
a.m. but another 170 remained trapped underground.
Latest information from the Chenjiashan Coalmine, a state-ownedventure under
the jurisdiction of the Tongchuan Mining Administration, confirmed that there
were 293 miners working underground when the gas explosion happened at coalpits
some 8,000 meters away from the ground entrance.
Those who escaped the gas explosion were mainly workers working near the
entrance. Some of them were poisoned by carbon monoxide, said the information.
Main provincial Party and government leaders, including Li Jianguo, secretary
of the Shaanxi Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC), and
Chen Deming, acting governor of Shaanxi, have all rushed to the site of the
accident to organize the rescue operation.
The Chenjiashan Coalmine is capable of producing 1.3 million tons of coal a
year.
Cause of the accident is under investigation.
