Free Republic

Contrasting with the jubilation at this week's rescue of 33 miners in Chile, the death toll from an explosion in a Chinese coal mine has risen to 37 with the bodies of the last five miners trapped underground being found, state media said on Tuesday. China's notorious safety standards has made it one of the world's deadliest countries for miners, with some 2,631 miners being killed in 2009 alone.

BEIJING — An explosion at a coal mine in northeast China early Saturday killed 31 workers and left 82 trapped, state-run China Central Television (CCTV) said, the latest deadly incident to hit the industry. The blast happened at 2:30 am (1830 GMT Friday) at a mine in Heilongjiang province, according to a statement issued by the State Administration of Work Safety. A total of 528 miners were working in the pit, near Hegang City, when the blast occurred, the state administration said. The previous toll given by CCTV was 15 dead and 114 trapped. The mine is owned by the...

17 sentenced for coal mine blast (Xinhua) Updated: 2008-02-25 11:44 TAIYUAN -- Seventeen people were given jail terms ranging from one year to life imprisonment for a coal mine gas blast that killed 105 miners and injured 18 others in North China's Shanxi Province in December last year, according to the local authorities on Sunday. The legal representative Wang Hongliang, actual investor Wang Donghai of Ruizhiyuan Coal Mining Co Ltd, and Kong Huiping, a manager in charge of production of Xinyao Coal Mine managed by the company, were sentenced to life imprisonment, according to the ruling of a public trial...

Letter from McCloy to the families of the Lost Sago miners. Some details of their ordeal.