Seventeen miners died, mostly from burns or suffocation, in a gas explosion at an illegal coal mine in northern China’s Shanxi province, state media said on Wednesday.
The miners were killed when the blast happened Tuesday in the Zhike Town Coal Mine in Zhongyang county, Luliang city, the Xinhua news agency said.
Only nine of the 26 miners working underground at the time survived, Xinhua said. Two of them were injured.
The mine, run by the township government, had been ordered to shut down due to safety problems but its owners secretly resumed operation on Monday without permission, Xinhua said, citing a local mine safety official.
Police have detained six mine executives and authorities have frozen the company’s bank accounts, Xinhua said.
Shanxi is a major coal producing region for China and suffers from frequent coal mine accidents. In the first seven months of this year, the province witnessed 90 accidents that claimed 316 lives, according to Xinhua.
China’s mines are the world’s deadliest with safety often sacrificed to supply the fuel that is driving the country’s rapid industrialisation and economic growth.
China recorded about 2 700 mining fatalities in the first half of the year from explosions, shaft collapses, fires and other accidents.
Independent estimates say the real figure could be far higher.
Last month the government ordered 7 000 coal mines to suspend operations as deaths from accidents linked to poor safety standards soared.
But it was not clear how it could enforce the closures as many profit-driven mines soon reopen after being shut down, with local officials bribed to turn a blind eye. – AFP
