54 die, 22 missing in mainland mine blast
Explosion is third major incident in two weeks involving scores of coal miners
An explosion tore through a mainland coal mine in the northern city of Tangshan yesterday afternoon, leaving at least 54 dead and 22 missing, the government said.
It was the third major incident in two weeks involving scores of miners in a massive blast, and underscored Beijing's battle with mine safety despite intensifying crackdowns on illegal operations.
Xinhua said last night that 186 miners were at the pit when the blast occurred at around 4.10pm. The news agency said 110 miners escaped.
The State Administration of Work Safety's director Li Yizhong and his deputy Wang Xianzheng along with 12 senior officials had also last night arrived at Tangshan's privately-operated Liuguantun mine to lead rescue operations.
The Kailuan Group, a state-owned coal mine enterprise 65km from the explosion site, sent two rescue teams. The Tangshan city government refused to comment or provide details of the explosion.
Mainland coal mines are the world's deadliest, with 6,027 people killed last year, official figures show.
The flouting of safety regulations is often cited as a key factor in the mining disasters, aided in many cases by officials holding stakes in the operations.
To end the collusion, the State Council has ordered all government officials to divest themselves of their stakes in coal mines.
The State Administration of Work Safety Supervision has ordered that at least one member of a coal mine's management team must descend into the shafts with the miners.
Liu Xutao from the National School of Administration said the central government should come up with new ways to tackle the coal industry's poor safety record.
Renmin University professor Mao Shoulong agreed that new approaches were needed to improve mainland coal mine safety and said the authorities needed to put less focus on a site's production capacity.
Professor Mao said coal mines with lower outputs were more likely to be shut down than those with higher ones, forcing some smaller operations to increase output.
On Tuesday, rescuers recovered the body of the last miner missing in a November 27 explosion in the Dongfeng coal mine in Heilongjiang province, bringing the death toll to 171. The accident prompted Premier Wen Jiabao to declare at the weekend that the Chinese mining industry was 'chaotic and without safety enforcement in place,' Mr Li said.
This week, police detained the owner of the Sigou colliery in Henan and two local officials who fled after a flood trapped 42 miners underground on Friday.
Additional reporting by Associated Press
