Advanced Search
Business | Metro | Nation | World | Sports | Features | Specials | Delta Stories
 
 
Flooding, gas blast in mines claim five
28/4/2005 11:44

Shanghai Daily news

Two separate mine accidents on Tuesday killed five workers and left another 12 missing in northern and southern China while search continued for dozens of flood-trapped workers in the northeast.
Rescuers in Wuhai, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, yesterday discovered five workers who were killed by a gas blast at the Kanghai Coal Mine.
Another seven were still missing, and authorities said the victims had no chance of surviving.
Thirteen men were dredging in the mine as part of a facility improvement program when the mishap occurred at 9:05pm on Tuesday. Only one of the workers escaped.
The coal mine has a registered capacity of 30,000 tons annually, local authorities said.
Elsewhere in southern Hunan Province, rescue workers were trying to reach five miners who they claimed "are likely to survive" an underground flood.
The five were trapped by a flood at the Tangbian colliery in Xinshao County at 10am on Tuesday. An unspecified number of miners, however, escaped.
Rescuers yesterday were pumping water from the shaft and waiting to enter the mine to find the victims as the flooding continued.
In another development, five workers yesterday were confirmed killed at the Tengda Coal Mine in northeastern Jilin Province. Another 25 were missing.
A flood hit the facility in Jiaohe City about 7am on Sunday. Sixty-nine workers were trapped, 39 of whom were saved.