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18 October, 2010
While the world’s euphoria was centered on the successful rescue of 33 Chilean miners, 26 Chinese miners were killed and another 11 remain missing today following a gas rush that suffocated miners just metres beneath the surface through a massive coal dust cloud. The accident happened on 16 October at the Henan mine of Pingyu Coal and Electric Co. in Yuzhou, Henan province.
The tragedy occurred when a hole was being drilled to release pressure caused by a methane gas build-up. The miners were buried when an estimated 173,000 cubic metres of gas rushed out, resulting in miners’ being buried in a coal dust concentration totaling 2,500 tonnes.
Rescue attempts were still ongoing early today for the missing 11, but hopes that they were alive were slim. They were only 50 metres beneath the surface. Some 239 miners did escape.
The gas level inside the mine was detected at 40% just prior to the accident, far above normal levels that average one percent.
Pingyu Coal and Electric Co. is owned by a consortium of four enterprises, including the China Power Investment Corp. and Zhong Ping Energy Chemical Group. In 2008, 23 miners perished in the same colliery from a methane gas explosion.
On 15 October, a day before the Chinese tragedy and less than 30 hours after the last of the 33 Chilean miners were pulled to the surface, three of four miners died following a tunnel collapse inside the Casa Negra gold and silver mine of Minesadco in El Oro province, Ecuador. The mine employs 100 workers and the accident happened when workers were digging a short distance from where the collapse occurred. Rescue efforts continued today to local the fourth miner, believed either trapped deeper inside the mine or killed by the rock collapse.