Chinese Mine Blast Kills at Least 63; Scores Missing
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BEIJING – The death toll in a coalmine explosion in central China rose to 63 with 103 workers still missing, the government said today, as toxic fumes unleashed from the blast slowed rescuers from entering the pit.
Rescue workers have recovered 63 bodies from the Chenjiashan Coal Mine in Shaanxi, the official Xinhua News Agency said, citing Huo Shichang, an official from the provincial coal industry administration.
Hopes were fading for some 103 miners still missing. If none of the missing survives, it would be one of the deadliest disasters in a decade to hit China’s accident-prone mining industry.
Emergency workers descended into the mine yesterday to repair ventilation systems needed to pump the fumes out, Xinhua said. But the agency didn’t say whether rescuers had begun making their way in to search for the miners, and officials reached by phone said they didn’t have any more details.
“After safe conditions are ensured, then rescue efforts can be sped up,” Xinhua said late yesterday.
Survival chances for the missing miners were “extremely slight” because of high levels of carbon monoxide, said an official of the Mine Safety Bureau in Shaanxi province, where the mine is located. Contacted by phone, he would give only his surname, Mr. Chen.
“We have to look after the safety of the rescuers,” Mr. Chen said. “If they take oxygen tanks down there, there could be another explosion caused by a leak. But if they don’ take oxygen down they’ll die in a second.”
Premier Wen Jiabao, at a meeting of Asian leaders in Laos, said he was “extremely upset” by the disaster. President Hu Jintao urged rescuers to spare no efforts to find the missing miners, state TV reported.
The TV footage showed stacks of blue oxygen tanks waiting to be used and government officials studying blueprints of the mine as they organized rescue efforts.