Posted on 07/02/2002 7:51:05 AM PDT by yankeedame
Mine owners on the run after blast cover-up
By John Schauble,Herald Correspondent in Beijing
July 3 2002
In one of the more bizarre incidents in China's sorry history of mining catastrophes, police are searching for the operators of a goldmine who hid the bodies of 37 miners killed in an explosion.
The owners of the privately run mine claimed the blast 10 days ago in Shaanxi province took the lives of just two people.
But at least 40 miners were working underground at the time of the explosion, triggered when a fire ignited 3.6 tonnes of explosives.
Wang Quanquan and Yin Shan, who have operated the mine since March, are on the run after the discovery of bodies in six sites up to 10 kilometres from the Yixingzhai village goldmine.
Police have detained seven people suspected of involvement in concealing the bodies, state-run media reported yesterday.
A reward of 30,000 yuan ($6500) has been offered for information leading to the capture of four other suspects.
Officials from the miners' home county in neighbouring Shaanxi province who travelled to the area became suspicious after hearing from the relatives of missing miners that the mine owners had been seen removing bodies.
A 200-strong investigation team has since been sent to the area, according to the China Youth Daily reported.
China has an appalling record of mine safety. Two days before the goldmine blast, 115 people died in a gas explosion in the Chengzihe mine in north-eastern Heilongjiang province. More than 5000 miners were killed last year, prompting an official campaign to improve mine safety.
Many small mines have been closed, particularly in Shaanxi. Since May 2001, about 13,000 unsafe and often illegal coalmines have been shut down.
Despite this, 3393 miners have died in 2014 accidents officially reported in the first six months of this year.
Serious accidents continued to happen because of outdated equipment, poor safety enforcement, and a "risk-taking approach to production safety", according to a recent government report.
An underground powder magazine with 3.6 tons -- we don't have to worry much about anyone this dumb overtaking us. I hope the military leaders are selected in the same manner as the industry leaders. Come to think of it, the wisdom of the jet piolet in the US spy plane dust up indicates the military is about as smart as these miners.
Come to think of it, the wisdom of the jet piolet in the US spy plane dust up indicates the military is about as smart as these miners.Does that mean the US will soon say it is very, very, very sorry about the mine accident and send them cash to cover their expenses?
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