China Urges Every Effort Be Made to Save Trapped Miners

China urges every effort be made to save trapped miners

BEIJING, Aug. 10 (Xinhua) — Though hope is slim, China’s central government Wednesday ordered south China’s Guangdong Province to make every effort to rescue all the miners still trapped underground when a local colliery was flooded.

The accident occurred at 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the Daxing Coal Mine of Ningxing City, Guangdong. A total of 123 miners were reported missing.

“So long as there is a slim hope for the survival of anyone, every possible means should be made to save the trapped miners,” according to a State Council executive meeting held on Wednesday.

A special investigation team consisting of members from five central departments, including the State Administration of Production Safety and the Public Security Bureau, will be immediately set up to probe into the accident and bring those responsible for the accident to justice. The State Council meeting urged governments at all levels, all departments and enterprises to draw lessons from the tragedy and take more effective measures to enhance safety in production.

Any unit or individual who fails to implement state required regulations will be severely penalized.

Eleven people, including the owner, manager, board chairman and chief technician of the Daxing Coal Mine, had ran away after the accident, and later detained by police.

Two local officials were given disciplinary warnings for not performing their duty during the rescue operation and two mayors, who were found responsible for the accident, have been suspended. By Wednesday morning, rescuers recovered the body of one of the trapped miners.