Teens worked in fire-struck mines
Hebei governor vows to wipe out illegal practice of hiring youngsters
Mine owners in Shahe, Hebei province, where at least 65 miners were killed in a fire last weekend, had illegally hired teenage workers, state media reports said.
The revelation came as the Hebei government yesterday ordered safety inspections of all mines and factories in the province.
'We will strike hard against the corruption and evil deeds exposed by these accidents,' Hebei Governor Ji Yunshi was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
Official reports said 65 miners had been killed in the fire, which swept through five inter-connected iron mines in Shahe on Saturday. Fifty-one miners were saved.
A report by the Hebei Workers' Daily said a large number of teenagers were employed in mines in the Shahe area.
The newspaper interviewed one of the rescued child miners, 14-year-old Zhou Chengping from Shaanxi province, in hospital. Mainland law prohibits mines from sending employees under the age of 18 underground.
The report said Chengping had been working underground for more than 10 hours when the accident happened.
He smelt an unusual concentration of gas and about five to six miners near him collapsed. He soon passed out, regaining consciousness in hospital.
When asked what he intended to do after he recovered, Chengping told the newspaper: 'Of course I will return to the mine, production will start soon.
'I haven't earned enough to have a wife yet. I can have a wife if I have money and I am not afraid of dying.'
The newspaper said: 'According to information we obtained, more than two dozen teenage miners were hired by the five mines which caught fire in the accident.'
The report also claimed mine owners and managers had sent ill-equipped miners underground in a desperate bid to save the trapped miners.
