The death toll in a massive coal-mining accident in northern China rose to 90, as the country’s Cabinet ordered the establishment of a special commission to investigate, state television reported on Saturday.
CCTV said rescuers confirmed that 90 workers at the Liuguantun Colliery had died in the mishap. It said 18 were still missing and that efforts were continuing to try to locate them.
A mixture of airborne coal dust and colourless, methane-laden gas known as fire damp ignited to cause the blast on Wednesday, an initial investigation showed. The colliery is located in Tangshan, a city in Hebei province about 150km from Beijing.
The CCTV report said the State Council has ordered the establishment of a special commission to investigate the causes of the accident, and added that the mine’s owner is in police ”control”, without elaborating what that means.
The Liuguantun disaster has heightened popular anger over the state of China’s coal mines, which are the world’s most dangerous.
The China Daily newspaper on Friday published an editorial critical of the country’s mining industry for not installing equipment to clear deadly methane gas.
”Coal companies in developed countries long ago introduced technology to draw out methane before letting miners get down to work in shafts,” the newspaper said. ”We should not sit idle … Some accidents involving this gas could be avoided.” — Sapa-AP