Blast kills 30, traps 149 miners in China colliery

BEIJING (Reuters) – An explosion in a coal mine in China’s
northeastern province of Heilongjiang has killed 30 miners and
trapped another 149, 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 221 were working
underground at the time of the blast, Xinhua said.
Investigators said a coal-dust explosion had knocked out all
ventilation systems in the pit, it said, adding that the main
system resumed operation on Monday.

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 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).

Accidents and disasters caused more than 1 million
casualties annually in China and 650 billion yuan in economic
losses each year — or 6 percent of GDP, Xinhua said in a
separate report, citing Wang Jikun, a senior official with the
Ministry of Public Security.