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.
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