Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - 17 miners have died after becoming trapped in a mine in north-west China at the weekend, following an explosion caused by a gas leak. The state Xinhua news agency reports that the incident took place on July 5 at 8:43 pm in a quarry situated about 120 km from Urumqi, capital of Xinjiang region.
According to latest reports, the 17 workers died and there is no more hope of finding them alive, while three other workers in the quarry at the time of the explosion were immediately rescued and brought to safety. The authorities have opened an investigation.
The latest site in a long series of coal mine incidents Dahuangshan
Yuxin Coal Mining Co. Ltd, is owned by the Sixth Agricultural Division of Xinjiang
Production and Construction Corps. It is a paramilitary organization, constituted
by the central government in the 80s to contribute to the development of the
region.
At the moment, China has about 12 thousand mines that are operative in different
capacities. The national subsoil is still rich in coal, but according to some
estimates, it will not be enough to keep up with the pace of industrial production.
In fact, China is the world's largest coal consumer and relies on it for 70% of
its ever-growing energy needs.
According to the latest government statistics, in 2012 1,384
people were killed in mines. In 2011, 1,973 more died, all in accidents in coal
mines, with a reduction of 19% over the previous year. But human rights groups and
private Chinese scholars argue that the figure is much higher: the owners of
the mines often don't report incidents for fear of economic losses, fines or plant
closures.
Very often local authorities are corrupted by bribes to turn a blind eye to the
lack of safety standards. The closure of the mines is, according to the new President
Xi Jinping, another campaign against the corruption of communist officials.