Hunan: 4 dead, 16 missing in mine disaster
Beijing (AsiaNews/Agencies) Four workers are dead and 16 are missing after a fire at a mine in central China, as rescuers continued efforts on Tuesday to reach 36 miners unaccounted for after a flood in the country's southwest.
In the latest disaster to hit the industry, a fire broke out on Monday in a coal mine in Xiangtan County in Hunan province, trapping 21 workers. One has been saved, four were confirmed dead and 16 were missing, officials at the mine said.
"When the fire happened there were 21 miners in the shaft. Early this morning we managed to save one and we have found four bodies, so now there are 16 missing," said Chen Qiguo, propaganda department chief in Xiangtan county.
"The fire has been extinguished but there is no electricity so we have no elevator to go down and find them". "Our first priority is to get electricity back on. It is very difficult to say if they are alive or dead" Chen said.
Meanwhile, rescue efforts were continuing at Xujiaba Tianchi mine in Sinan county, southwestern China's Guizhou province, as hopes dimmed of finding alive any of the 36 miners missing since Sunday.
"We are still pumping water. We need more pumps. We are hoping to get more pumps from other counties. No one has been found yet," said an official involved in the rescue work who did not want to be named. He refused to be drawn on their chances of survival. Water gushed into the shaft on Sunday when 80 miners were in the mine. Forty-four got out safely.
China's mining industry has been blighted by a spate of disasters in recent weeks, including the deaths of 166 people in Shaanxi province and 148 miners in Henan province, both from gas explosions.
China officially reports about 7,000 mine fatalities annually, but labor rights groups say the real figure could be around 20,000.
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