An explosion at a coal mine in south-west China has killed at least 14 people – the latest in a string of deadly mining accidents.

The local authorities said two people were still trapped underground at the mine in Guizhou province. At least 37 people have died in five separate mining accidents in China since October.

The accidents are often due to poorly-enforced safety regulations. The explosion at the Guanglong mine in Guizhou province happened in the early hours of Tuesday. Seven workers were lifted to safety. On Saturday, flooding in a coal mine in south-west China’s Sichuan province killed five and trapped 13 miners underground.

Some 347 miners were working in the Shanmushu mine when the flood happened. On 25 November, one person died in an accident at a different mine in Guizhou province. Before that, a blast in northern China’s Shanxi province killed 15 workers on 18 November.

At the time, officials said the accident was caused by “broken laws and regulations”. In October, two people were killed in a blast in a mine in Shandong province in eastern China.

The poor safety record and high accident rate in China’s mining sector led to the government in November ordering a “crackdown” on safety issues, said the AFP news agency. But – despite the string of deadly accidents – mine safety is generally improving.

Last year, 333 people died in Chinese mines – a decrease of 13% on the year before. Meanwhile, the “death per million tons of coal mined” fell to below 0.1 for the first time.

China mined three billion tonnes of coal over the first 10 months this year, according to official data cited by Reuters – up 4.5% from the same period in 2018.

Source : https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-china-50818647

Seventeen Chinese coal miners were killed when a lift used to move workers fell down a shaft, state media reported, the latest deadly mishap in the country‘s accident-prone coal-mining industry.

The accident occurred Thursday when a cable supporting a mining cage caught fire, causing the rig to tumble down into a state-operated coal mine in northeast China‘s Heilongjiang province, Xinhua news agency said.

An operation to extract the trapped miners from the wreckage was launched at the time but rescue workers could not reach them until Monday, finding them all dead, Xinhua said.

The mine, the Dongrong Second Mine under the Longmay Mining Holding Group, is located near the city of Shuangyashan.

Two welders have been detained by police over “allegedly serious violations” of safety regulations, Xinhua said.

The mine‘s manager also has been suspended from his post, it quoted the local government as saying.

China is the world‘s largest coal producer, and deadly accidents in mines are common.

In December, explosions in two separate coal mines in the Inner Mongolia region and in Heilongjiang killed at least 59 people, according to state media reports.

Thirty-three miners were killed in a colliery explosion in October in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing, and in September at least 18 were killed in a mine blast in the northwestern Ningxia region.

A gas explosion inside a coal mine in northern China has killed 15 miners and left another nine injured.

The blast occurred on 18 November 2019, Monday afternoon at a mine operated by the local Feng Yan Group in Shanxi province’s Pingyao county.

The Shanxi provincial work safety administration said 11 miners escaped without injury and the cause of the explosion was being investigated. While relatively small in scale, the mine had been cited last year for failure to provide adequate training for workers.

Gas explosions in mines usually occur when volatile methane, also known as coal gas, is not properly ventilated after leaking from the seam. At a high concentration, the gas can be ignited by a simple spark, open flame or electrical equipment, setting off second explosions of coal dust in the air.

Sixty-seven people were killed or injured by mines and unexploded ordnance during the past nine months and three weeks.

The Cambodian Mine Action and Victim Assistance Authority said that from January until October 17, there were 47 cases, 21 from landmines and 26 from UXOs.

“So far this year, 11 people were killed, 43 were injured and 13 had their limbs amputated due to explosions,” it said in a report obtained yesterday. “The number of casualties increased by 34 percent from the same period last year when 50 people were killed or injured.”

The report said that this year, 47 of the casualties were men, six were women and 15 were children under 18.

It noted that most of the accidents occurred when children picked up UXOs to play, people tried to recycle them, during land clearing or when victims stepped on landmines while hunting for food in unfamiliar territory.

Ny Nhar, CMAA’s Victim Assistance Department deputy-director, yesterday said there is still concern over accidents caused by unexploded munitions, mainly ordnances which are picked up by people.

“The number of cases is similar to the previous year, but the casualties have increased because sometimes one explosion causes several people to be killed or injured,” he said.

Mr Nhar noted steps are being taken in cooperation with local authorities to reduce the risk of accident in mine-riddled areas in the Kingdom.

“Recently we held a meeting to prepare pictorial messages about accidents caused by UXO,” he said. “We will highlight what type of accidents frequently occur as part of a drive to educate people about the dangers posed by UXOs.”

Mr Nhar said that the pictorial messages will be distributed in areas where accidents caused by UXO occur the most.

“We will see if the number of accidents goes down after we distribute the messages,” he added.

Source :  https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50652667/nearly-70-killed-or-hurt-by-uxos-this-year/