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13 December, 2010
Workers mining coal in a sealed-off coal shaft in Henan Province, China, died on 7 December when a methane gas explosion ripped through the mine. Twenty-six miners perished inside a colliery that was operating without authorization following a transfer of assets from a private mining company to a state-owned one.
To make matters worse, the owner of the private company, Suzhuang Coal Mine Co., concealed the number of miners working the illegal operation following the late afternoon blast on 7 December. He first reported 13 miners were killed and actually hid the bodies of a number of miners to lessen the casualty toll.
Regional police arrested seven people in total that were responsible for the falsification, including a local work-safety official charged with concealing the number of victims from investigators. The tragedy and cover-up occurred in Mianchi County, near Sanmenxia city in central Henan Province, at the Juyuan Coal Mine that was supposedly closed and under a safety review while the asset transfer was underway.
Bur the prior owner, Suo Younggang, continued to operate parts of the mine after his licensing had been revoked. The mine was being transferred to the state-owned Yi Ma Coal Industry Group, which operates in five Chinese provinces and employs 50,000 workers.
“The mining boss had profits all over his mind and has no regard whatsoever for miners’ lives,” said Niu Senying of the investigatory team in the Chinese sate press. “Where are the supervising officials? How could the mine be allowed to operate illegally for such a long time?”
The mine owner and his collaborators first reported 33 miners were underground, and only 13 had died. Following the initial investigation, it was revealed that 46 workers had been in the mine, with 26 dying and 20 making it to safety.
Also on 7 December, a roof in a shaft at a coal mine in China’s Liaoning Province collapsed, killing four miners. The mine was operated by the state-controlled Caitun Coal Mine Co., located in Benxi city. And a week earlier, on 30 November, seven miners drowned 90 metres deep in the Yide Coal Mine in Hunan Province when shafts were flooded. Managers of privately-held Yide had been warned both orally and in writing of safety hazards inside the Xiangtan County mine. They, along with shareholders of the company, are in police custody.