Posted on 07/21/2005 9:46:53 AM PDT by Our_Man_In_Gough_Island
A gas explosion at a Chinese coal mine has killed 26 men in the northern province of Shaanxi, the state-run news agency Xinhua reports. It said rescue work had ended overnight after all the bodies had been retrieved. Three miners were rescued.
The authorities are investigating the cause of the blast. Xinhua says the mine owner has been detained.
China's coal mines are reputed to be the world's deadliest - more than 1,000 people have died in them this year.
The latest blast occurred at the privately-owned Jinsuo coal mine in the city of Tongchua.
Correspondents say increasing demand for energy has put pressure on mines in China to provide coal faster.
Thousands are killed outright in Chinese coal mines. The rest die a slow death from preventable disease. The Chinese mines are worse than anything you have read about in the historical literature. They literally work the men to death.
"You dock him a day's pay" - Mr. Tagart
If you're keeping score, here is last week's deadly Chinese mine disaster:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1440431/posts
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