RESCUE WORKERS trying to unearth 11 miners trapped by an underground gas explosion in a Chinese mine fear the men may have suffocated or been buried in the dust, as the death toll rose to 26 late yesterday.
The miners were trapped after an explosion on Saturday at the Pingyu Coal Electric Co mine in the city of Yuzhou, about 690km (423 miles) south of Beijing.
“Based on past experience, the remaining 11 miners could be buried in coal dust, so the survival chances are frail,” Du Bo, deputy chief of rescue headquarters, told the state-run Xinhua news agency.
China has the world’s deadliest coal industry. It celebrated Chile’s rescue of 33 miners trapped for more than two months along with the rest of the world, but people in China have been showing a very keen interest in how Chile deals with its mining disasters.
The Chilean rescue last week was given a lot of prominence in the Chinese media, and this is one of the reasons why the Chinese are so interested in the Yuzhou mine disaster.
China had a remarkable mine rescue of its own earlier this year, when 115 miners were pulled from a flooded mine in Shanxi after more than a week underground.
They survived by eating sawdust, tree bark, paper and even coal. Some strapped themselves to the walls of the shafts with their belts to avoid drowning while they slept.
There is a lingering fear that mining disasters can have a destabilising effect on society.
The government has done much in recent years to free up the way disasters are reported – until not so long ago, it was illegal to report on natural disasters – but the coverage of mining disasters in China is still characterised by caution.
Some of the online commentary has focused on the human drama of the rescue in Chile, compared to the relatively anonymous fate of Chinese miners who die in mining incidents.
There was much admiration for the way the media was given access to the events in Chile, and for the freedom allowed family members – in contrast to China, where proceedings are kept under tight control.
“This transparency about publication brought more help and support from the outside world, which also helped the rescue work. But look at the current situation here, there is little information coming out,” wrote one anonymous online commentator.
The focus should be on the rescue below ground, not keeping things “harmonious” above ground, ran other comments.
Chile had taken advice and aid from overseas experts, it was noted approvingly – something China is slow to do. China could also learn about compensation, working conditions and the positive impact of psychological counselling.
“The rescue in Chile was a real humanistic rescue, not a government show,” said one comment.
Another gas blast at the same mine in Yuzhou two years ago killed 23 people, state media said.