A fire in a coal mine in northeast China has left six miners
dead and 15 others injured, local government sources confirmed on
Tuesday.
The fire occurred on Sunday afternoon at the Dongfang No.1 mine
in Dongliang Town, Liaoning Province, when 35 miners were working
inside, a spokesman with Fuxin city government told Xinhua.
Six miners were suffocated to death by the fumes and 15 others
were injured, according to the spokesman. Another 14 managed to
escape from the mine unharmed.
The injured miners are currently receiving treatment in local
hospitals.
The owner of the mine attempted to handle the accident himself
and did not report it to local work safety authorities.
The privately-run mine was preparing to resume operations
following a recent suspension for safety reasons when the fire
broke out. All coal mines in the area suspended production on
Feb.10 as required and are not permitted to resume operations if
they fail to meet local authorities' safety requirements.
A flooding on March 10 at another coal mine in the province
killed at least 23 workers.
(Xinhua News Agency March 21, 2007)