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Coal death toll climbs to 1,113 in Jan-Mar
By Fu Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-04-06 06:35
Mine accidents in China killed a total of 1,113 people in the first three
months of the year, up more than 20 per cent over the same period last year,
according to the State Administration of Work Safety yesterday.
However, the number of accidents declined 7.4 per cent to 503 in the first
three months.
A woman surnamed
Shang waits April 5, 2005 for information on her husband Zhou Renhai, one
of the 17 miners trapped in a coal mine flooding happened last Friday in
Guida Colliery in Guiyang County of Chenzhou, Hunan Province. So Far, nine
have been confirmed dead. [newsphoto] | The major reason for the accidents is the lax supervision and administration
of the mines, as well as unenforced regulations, said Li Yizhong, a minister
from the administration.
At a press conference hosted by the Information Office of the State Council,
Li ruled out the possibility of a coal shortage despite a recent campaign to
crack down on illegal mines in a bid to improve China's safety record.
"The campaign to shut down coal pits which do not meet safety standards will
affect the coal supply to some degree but will not cause a shortage," he said.
Li said his confidence was based on the fact that those operations being
closed were of a small scale.
Facing a mounting coal death toll since the last quarter of 2004, the central
government has stepped up efforts to close illegal mines operating without the
correct licences.
Earlier reports said that in China's "coal province" of Shanxi, only about
700 mines of the total 4,000 were authorized to continue operations.
While dismissing concerns over China's coal supply, Li said: "The
government's priority will be to guarantee the safety of workers" if increasing
coal production and safety came into conflict.
Coal accounts for 67 per cent of China's energy consumption. The total output
last year surpassed 1.9 billion tons, 57 per cent of which was produced by 778
State-owned key mines. The 1,200 medium-sized State-owned companies and 23,400
small, private operations supplied 15 per cent and 28 per cent of the total
output respectively.
"So we should cut the number of small mines, especially those with poor
safety records," said Li.
He said China's top leadership has placed great importance on work safety.
He said his administration, newly promoted to a ministry-level agency, has
been cracking down on all kinds of illegal mining activities and making mines
that fail to meet work safety standards come up to par.
His administration dispatched teams last month to inspect coal mines and shut
down operations that failed safety inspections.
But despite their efforts, the coal mine death toll is still climbing.
"Since the fourth quarter of last year, several extremely serious accidents
have occurred, arousing widespread public concern," Li said.
In February, an underground explosion in Fuxin of Northeast China's Liaoning
Province killed 214 miners, and was the second deadliest mine accident since the
founding of New China in 1949.
The bodies of several dozen miners remain underground after gas explosions
ripped through Chenjiashan coal mine in Shaanxi Province last November.
Meanwhile, one miner was killed and 22 others were trapped in a coal mine gas
outburst in Chongqing Municipality, Southwest China yesterday afternoon.
The accident occurred at about
2:00 pm at a coal mine of the Tianfu Mining Company in Hechuan in Chongqing
Municipality. Rescue work is under way, Xinhua said.
(China Daily 04/06/2005 page2)
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