The coal mine accident, in
which 57 coal miners are still trapped in the flooded Xinjing CoalMine in
Zuoyun, North China's Shanxi Province, could have been avoided, according to the
miners who managed to escape.
Miners told Xinhua that the mine showed signs of flooding six days before the
fatal accident. However, the management ordered them to keep on mining.
"On May 18, a team leader had an argument with the management as he insisted
mining should stop because it was too dangerous. Hewas slapped in the face by a
manager," said a miner surnamed Yang.
The angry team leader did not go to work underground and escaped from the
accident, he added.
Li Yizhong, director of the State Administration of Work Safety,has blamed
excessive production for the accident. The coal mine had a license to produce
90,000 tons a year, but it produced 130,000 tons from March 2 to May 18.
Rescuers are still battling to save the 57 trapped miners in the flooded
Xinjing Coal Mine in Zuoyun, North China's Shanxi Province.
The water level beneath the shaft is falling as pumping continues and the
rescuers have mobilized high-power pumps from major mines nearby to speed up the
process.
A large crowd of miners and family members of the trapped miners have
gathered in front of the rescue headquarters, waiting eagerly for news.
"I ran as quickly as possible and didn't dare look back when a fellow worker
shouted that the mine was flooded," said a miner Jian Guihong, who escaped from
the shaft.
Jian was the only one that escaped from the mine out of his 12-member team.
"I don't know whether the others in my team are dead or not," he said.
"I hope my husband is rescued - our two children are both underthe age of
two," said a 29-year-old weeping Cao Jianlin, whose husband Cao Zhigui is among
the 57 trapped miners.
Cao Zhigui and his family came to Zuoyun to work at the mine only two months
before the accident.
Nine management staff, including the owner of the miner Li Fuyuan, have been
detained by the police. However, two managers, including one who was responsible
for work safety, have gone into hiding, said Bai Yulong, spokesman of the rescue
headquarters.
Bai also said the local public security department had frozen 11 million yuan
(1.38 million U.S. dollars) in 11 accounts owned by the management staff and
recovered 8 million yuan (1 million U.S. dollars) in cash.
Chang Rui, Party secretary of Zhangjiachang Town, where the mine is located,
and Liu Yongxin, the township head, have been suspended from their posts.
Zuoyun County has also ordered the suspension of coal production at all the
local collieries for safety inspections following the fatal flooding.
Local safety authorities had earlier tried to cover up the deadly accident by
reporting that only five miners were trapped.
The management had rented taxis to transfer family members of the trapped
miners to the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Shanxi's close neighbor, to
prevent them from rioting and speakingto the
press.
