Rescuers had discovered 40 bodies at the site of a coal mine explosion in Chengde, Hebei Province, as of yesterday. Another 10 miners were still missing.
Meanwhile, Shanxi Province authorities yesterday said 20 people were killed at two neighboring coal mines in Puxian County. One miner was rescued.
Out of the 51 trapped miners in Hebei, Sun Jisheng was the only one to be rescued thus far. The former safety inspector, who was in a coma when he was found on Saturday, regained consciousness yesterday. He suffered memory loss after a lack of oxygen for a long period, said doctors with No. 266 Hospital of the People's Liberation Army.
The explosion occurred about 3am on Thursday when 85 miners were working underground at the Nuan'erhe Colliery. Thirty-four miners were rescued.
Governor Ji Yunshi said yesterday the provincial government will carry out the safety production responsibility system and punish individuals responsible for the accident.
Located in Nanzhangzi Village in Bajia Township, the coal mine was formerly state-owned, but was auctioned to the Beijing Guodian Zhongneng Electric Fuel Investment Co Ltd for 65 million yuan (US$7.8 million) in December 2003.
The mishaps in Shanxi began about 4am on Friday when an explosion occurred at the Hougou Coal Mine, killing 14 workers. The impact triggered a sudden surge of gas to enter the neighboring Shapingzi colliery, trapping seven miners. Six of them died.
The Hougou mine owner fled.
(Shanghai Daily/Xinhua)