China mine disaster kills 8, more trapped

Beijing, May 24 : A gas explosion at a Chinese coal mine has killed eight miners and trapped an unknown number just days after a flood at another mine stranded 57 underground, official media reported today.

Monday's accident in the northern province of Henan, following Thursday's flooding at a pit in neighbouring Shanxi province, reinforce China's reputation for running the world's deadliest mining industry.

The owner of the unlicensed Henan mine and some of his officials had fled, Xinhua news agency said, making it difficult to estimate the number trapped underground.

Eight people had been detained in connection with the Shanxi accident, Xinhua said, but several remained at large.

The owner of that mine had failed to report the accident and had grossly understated the number trapped when police, alerted by local residents, investigated, the official agency said.

Rescue operations were continuing, but there appeared little hope of finding any of the 57 alive.

Five days after the flooding struck, water levels had only just begun to fall after ''days of pumping'', Xinhua reported.

Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety, blamed excessive production and disregard for safety for the flooding, Xinhua said.

The administration also alluded to official corruption.

''There's not just gross misreporting involved, but also issues of corruption involving collusion between government and business officials,'' the administration's Web site said.

The latest disasters occurred despite recent, highly publicised calls for closure of unsafe mines and anti-corruption drives.

More than 3,000 coal mine blasts, floods and other accidents killed nearly 6,000 workers across China last year, as owners motivated by soaring profits pushed production past safe limits to fuel the booming economy.

Reuters