China mine accidents multiply -- 28 dead, 192 missing

BEIJING — Nearly 30 people have died and almost 200 are missing after five separate coal mining accidents in China in as many days, state media said Friday, highlighting poor safety in the nation's collieries.

In the latest incident, a fire in a coal mine in the northern province of Shaanxi killed nine people Thursday -- topping off an especially disastrous week for the nation's notoriously dangerous mining sector.

In neighbouring Shanxi province, where 153 workers have been trapped in a flooded half-built mine since Sunday, rescue efforts have once again been stepped up, with 3,000 people now racing against time to reach the missing.

Relatives waited anxiously at the Wangjialing mine in China's coal-producing heartland, as rescuers maintained a glimmer of hope that some may have survived if they were working on platforms above danger levels, state media reported.

Workers' safety is often ignored in China's collieries in the quest for quick profits and the drive to meet surging demand for coal -- the source of about 70 percent of the country's energy.

If the workers in Shanxi are not saved, that accident will be the deadliest in China's coal mines in more than two years.

In the central province of Henan, a huge explosion at a coal mine that authorities said had been operating illegally killed at least 19 people on Wednesday, the nation's work safety watchdog said.

Another 24 people were believed to be trapped underground in the mine. The boss had fled, prompting a huge manhunt by local police, state media said.

The blast was so powerful that several buildings near the mine shaft were flattened, with bits of clothes hanging from the trees, the official China Daily reported.

In the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, a flood had trapped five people at a colliery. And on the other side of the country, in the far-western region of Xinjiang, 10 were missing after a mine collapse.

According to official statistics, 2,631 coal miners were killed last year in China -- or about seven a day -- down by 584 from 2008.

China has made efforts to improve safety standards in mines, levying heavy fines and implementing region-wide mining shut-downs following serious accidents.

But the action has resulted in the under-reporting of accidents, labour rights groups maintain. And deadly accidents still occur in big, state-owned collieries, such as the one in Shanxi where the 153 workers are trapped.

AFP