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China safety body says rules ignored in mine flood
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China safety body says rules ignored in mine flood
By GILLIAN WONG,Associated Press Writer -
Wednesday, March 31
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XIANGNING, China – Safety rules and danger warnings had been ignored in a rush to open a coal mine in northern China where flooding of the shafts has left 153 workers trapped for nearly three days, a government safety body said Wednesday.
Officials say there have been no signs of life at the Wangjialing mine in Shanxi province since 108 miners escaped or were rescued following the flooding Sunday. Desperate relatives of miners have pleaded for rescue work to be speeded up.
A notice posted on the Web site of the State Administration of Work Safety said all mines in China had been told to learn from the mistakes at Wangjialing and take precautions. It said a preliminary analysis showed that during tunneling workers broke through into an old shaft, triggering the flood.
"They violated regulations and policies during the work process, did not conform to the regulations on coal mine prevention of water leaks," it said.
The notice said that in a rush to finish the work, extra tunneling crews were assigned, overcrowding the shaft.
"Water leaks were found numerous times on underground shafts but still they failed to take action to eliminate the potential risks," it said.
The official China Daily reported Wednesday that managers of the company in charge of construction have gone missing. It said they were the ones who ignored alarms about water leaks.
Families and co-workers of the trapped miners have accused officials of being unresponsive. Their anger reflects the deep distrust many ordinary Chinese feel about officials seen as corrupt and indifferent.
About 1,000 rescue workers have been working around the clock at the mine in the southern part of Shanxi province, tunneling and laying pipes to drain away water, but hopes are fading as there have been no communications with those trapped.
It could prove to be the deadliest mine accident in China since a coal mine flood in eastern Shandong province in August 2007 killed 172 miners. The latest disaster is a setback to recent, significant improvements in Chinese mines, which have a dire safety record. They are the world's deadliest, claiming thousands of lives each year.
Family members, many of whom had just arrived at the Wangjialing mine after rushing from their home provinces, milled around the site demanding explanations for the flood, and complained they weren't seeing water being pumped out. Officials insisted they were clearing water, but were hampered by intermittent electricity cuts.
Cao Yuying, 30, from Henan province, said he's waiting for news about his 45-year-old uncle who is stuck below.
"They are not working fast enough. I believe they are not actually interested in rescue work. They are just trying to resume production." said Cao.
"I will wait here until they rescue people," he said.
The State Administration of Work Safety said 261 workers were inside the Wangjialing mine when it flooded Sunday, and 108 escaped or were rescued. The 153 workers who remained underground were believed to be trapped in nine different places in the mine, which was flooded with up to 5 million cubic feet (140,000 cubic meters) of water, state television said.
In an indication of the slow progress, the official Xinhua News Agency reported that as of Tuesday night, pumping had dropped the water level in the flooded shaft by just 15 centimeters (about six inches).
Security is tight around the mine, with the main mountain road to the mine sealed off by police, who allow only authorized vehicles to pass. There is an increased police presence near a workers' dormitory, with about a dozen police standing guard.
Tang Yinfeng, a migrant worker from the southern province of Hunan, said two of her younger brothers were trapped underground. "I want to bring oxygen tanks down," said Tang, 49. "I want to save them myself."
State media reported rescuers have drilled 65 feet (20 meters) of a planned 400-foot (120-meter) water diversion channel they hope can clear water away. Work had yet to start on a second, 980-foot (300-meter) tunnel leading from the ground straight down to the affected shafts, because engineers were uncertain where to start drilling.
The mine, which was not yet in operation when the accident happened, covers about 180 square kilometers (70 square miles). Xinhua said it was expected to produce 6 million tons of coal a year once it opened later this year.
Accidents killed 2,631 coal miners in China last year, down from 6,995 deaths in 2002, the most dangerous year on record, according to the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety. That is an average more than seven miners a day in 2009, down from 19 in 2002.
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