The death toll in a coal mine blast in Chengde City of northern Hebei Province has risen to seven, as five more bodies were found yesterday afternoon, sources with the rescue headquarters said.
The blast occurred around 3am on Thursday when 85 miners were working underground at the Nuan'erhe Coal Mine. Thirty-four of them were lifted out of the shaft, and 51 others were trapped underground.
The bodies of two miners were discovered yesterday morning, and rescuers found another five bodies in the afternoon. The fate of the other 44 trapped miners is still unknown, even as rescue work continues.
A total of 94 professional rescuers are working in teams, trying to locate the trapped miners, Wang Yushan, head of the city administration of work safety, said.
Located at Nanzhangzi Village in Bajia Township, the mine used to be a state-owned colliery, but was auctioned off to the Beijing Guodian Zhongneng Electric Fuel Investment Co Ltd for 65 million yuan (US$7.8 million) in December 2003.
The coal mine was built at a cost of 20 million yuan in 1982 and put into operation in 1987 with a designed production capacity of 210,000 tons a year. One-third of its production is coke.
The mine was hit by two big gas explosions on January 26-27, 2002, leaving 29 miners dead.
(Xinhua)