Five miners trapped in a coal and gas outburst accident early on
Tuesday in northwest China's Shaanxi Province have been confirmed
dead, a local government official said.
Rescuers recovered the bodies at 11:15 a.m. on Wednesday after a
31- hour search.
The accident took place at about 4 a.m. at the Xinglong Coal
Mine that was under construction in Hancheng City. It occurred when
five miners were clearing an underground tunnel, a city government
spokesman said.
The mine is run by the Yi'an Coal Mine which is affiliated to
the Xuzhou Mining Business Group Co. Ltd. in eastern Jiangsu
Province. It was being designed to produce 300,000 tons of coal
annually.
The spokesman provided no further details.
The outbursts are a phenomenon that occurs when gas, a
combination of methane and carbon dioxide, and coal dust combine to
create a volatile substance.
Separately, a gas fire killed three miners in another coal mine
in Hancheng on Monday morning. One miner escaped unhurt, city
officials said on Wednesday.
(Xinhua News Agency December 12, 2007)