Hundreds of rescue workers were dispatched to the mine site, where three pumps were sucking in water.
Beijing:
Officials said 20 workers were rescued and two bodies were found Friday from a flooded coal mine after a dramatic rescue operation that lasted more than two days.
A massive recovery effort has been launched when an illegal mine in northern China’s coal-producing Shanxi province flooded late Wednesday, with authorities pledging to crack down on Illegal activities spring up in response to rising prices.
State media earlier reported that 21 people were trapped in the mine shaft in Xiaoyi city, where hundreds of rescuers used pumps to draw out the water.
China’s Ministry of Emergency Management said in a statement that 20 miners had been brought to the surface and two had died as of Friday night.
“Shanxi Province (right) urgently arranges an investigation and collects evidence, makes full use of efforts to apprehend the fugitives, and holds responsible in accordance with the law,” the ministry said. , and said the province needs to “severely crack down on illegal mineral mining activities”.
Three top Xiaoyi city officials including the mayor have been removed from their posts due to a mining accident, the local government announced Friday.
State broadcaster CCTV said a narrow and obscured entrance to the illegal mine had hampered rescue efforts, as well as a lack of a proper map of the mine.
Seven suspects have been detained over the crash and police say they are looking for others – including the owner of the mine, believed to be a local who fled after the crash.
State television showed rescuers in orange shirts and hard hats lifting the miners out on stretchers to ambulances.
China generates about 60 percent of its energy from burning coal and has ramped up production in recent months to alleviate energy shortages that have caused power cuts and forced factories to close.
Authorities said on Thursday that high demand for coal has driven up prices and cases of illegal mining.
The State Council’s Occupational Safety Committee and the Ministry of Emergency Management have called on coal-producing provinces to investigate illegal mines, saying those involved face criminal proceedings. the.
In August, the former mayor of Xiaoyi launched a 100-day campaign to crack down on illegal mining by local criminal gangs.
Mining accidents are common in China, where the industry has a poor safety record and regulations are not necessarily enforced.
19 miners died after being trapped underground in a mine collapse in September.
And in January, 11 of 22 workers were significantly rescued from a collapsed mine in eastern China after they spent two weeks trapped hundreds of meters underground.
China’s mine safety authority last week said improved workplace regulations meant there had been 336 landmine accidents in 2021 – 59 fewer than last year.
But it warned of an increased risk of crashes in December as mines sacrifice production safety for output as year-end approaches.
(Except for the title, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from an aggregated feed.)
