Blast traps 160 miners in northeast China colliery

BEIJING (Reuters) – An explosion in a coal mine in China’s
northeastern province of Heilongjiang has trapped about 160
miners underground, state media said on Monday.

The blast was reported on Sunday at Dongfeng Coal Mine, run
by a branch of the Heilongjiang Longmei Mining (Group) Co.
Ltd., the Xinhua news agency quoted the provincial coal mine
safety administration as saying.

More than 40 miners escaped overnight, but at least 200
were working underground at the time of the blast, Xinhua said,
citing the mine’s roll books.

The mine explosion is the latest disaster to strike
Heilongjiang, whose capital city, Harbin, was held hostage for
five days by a toxic spill coursing through the river that
provides its water supply, forcing a shut-down of tap water.

The slick, caused by an explosion at a chemical plant in
nearby Jilin province about two weeks ago, passed through the
Songhua River and out of Harbin at the weekend. Taps were
turned back on Sunday.

China’s mining industry is the biggest and the deadliest in
the world. Accidents killed more than 2,700 miners in the first
half of the year.

The country has launched safety campaigns to clean up and
shut down illegal mines, but booming demand and high coal
prices has driven some mine owners to ignore regulations.

Longmei Group is a conglomerate of four state-owned major
coal businesses in the northeastern province, with a registered
capital of 13 billion yuan ($1.6 billion).