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Three coal mine accidents kill 10, trap 37
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2005-04-27 23:57

At least 10 people were killed and another 37 remain trapped underground or missing after three coal mine accidents in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Jilin and Hunan provinces over the past two days, Xinhua reported.

Five miners were confirmed dead and 25 others were still missing yesterday in a flooded coal mine in Jiaohe, a city in Northeast China's Jilin Province, the mine's rescue headquarters said.

At 1:30 am yesterday, rescuers recommenced work after clearing poisonous gas and found the bodies of five miners. At 3:00 am, they again had to stop work because of lack of oxygen.

A coal mine blast in Wuhai city, Inner Mongolia, yesterday killed a further five miners and left another seven trapped underground.

A total of thirteen miners were working underground at the Kanghai Coal Mine when the accident happened at 21:05 on Tuesday.One miner escaped the accident.

Local officials have launched a quick response system and set up rescue headquarters.

Built in 1993, the privately owned coal mine has an annual production capacity of 30,000 tons. When the accident happened, the coal mine was undergoing technological upgrading.

Rescue of the trapped workers is still going on.

In another development, five miners remained trapped last night in a flooded coal mine in Longxipu Town in Xinshao County, Hunan, the local government said .

Rescuers spent nine hours draining water from the tunnel before they could enter, the local rescue headquarters said.

Some miners who were working at the time escaped from the accident at the Tangbian Coal Mine which happened at 10:00 am on Tuesday.

The water level underground has been reduced by 13 metres and rescuers estimated the trapped miners would have at least 15 cubic metres of space giving them a "great chance" of survival.

More accidents

Also on Tuesday, a building collapse in Yanji, in Northeast China's Jilin Province, claimed five lives.

The accident occurred at 10:55 am as construction workers were repairing an old building in the city's Juzi Street.

The cause of the accident is under investigation.

In South China's Guangdong Province, a rainstorm accompanied by heavy winds and lightning struck Guangzhou, killing two people and injuring one other, a local official reported.

The heavy storm,dumped 94.5 milimetres of rain onto the city, flooded more than 40 villages, damaged 2,666 hectares of farmland and destroyed 1,397 houses.The economic losses caused by the storm have been estimated at 41.1 million yuan (US$4.95 million).



 
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