Thirty-two workers were rescued from a flooded coal mine in China yesterday after being trapped for nearly a day and the boss was being probed for running an illegal operation, state media reported.
The workers were lifted out of the flooded shaft in Henan Province shortly after 6am, almost 24 hours after the accident occurred, Xinhua news agency reported.
However, one of their colleagues was found dead while rescuers were still searching for another miner still listed as missing, according to the agency.
PHOTO: AP
Xinhua said an earlier report it had published stating 33 workers were rescued had been wrong.
The accident at the Gaomendong Coal Mine near Pingdingshan city happened at about 7:20am on Monday.
Forty-two miners were at work at the time of the flooding, and eight managed to escape shortly afterwards, Xinhua said.
However, it was two hours before the mine owner reported the accident, and he had also not passed on earlier warnings from miners that water had been seeping into the shaft, Xinhua said.
The owner, Lou Gaofeng, had been detained, the agency said, adding the mine had been operating illegally, even though its production licence was valid until November next year.
“The mine was undergoing a technical renovation ... and had yet to be approved for resuming production,” said Wang Dexue (王德學), deputy head of the state administration of work safety.
Also on the list of security lapses was the finding that too many workers had been in the mine at the time of the flooding.
“The mine allows a maximum of 28 miners. But 42 people were working underground when the accident happened,” said Li Hanwei (李捍衛), vice director of rescue operations.
It was the third coal mine accident in less than three weeks in Henan, with a total of five miners dying in the two previous accidents.
A beauty queen who pulled out of the Miss South Africa competition when her nationality was questioned has said she wants to relocate to Nigeria, after coming second in the Miss Universe pageant while representing the West African country. Chidimma Adetshina, whose father is Nigerian, was crowned Miss Universe Africa and Oceania and was runner-up to Denmark’s Victoria Kjar Theilvig in Mexico on Saturday night. The 23-year-old law student withdrew from the Miss South Africa competition in August, saying that she needed to protect herself and her family after the government alleged that her mother had stolen the identity of a South
BELT-TIGHTENING: Chinese investments in Cambodia are projected to drop to US$35 million in 2026 from more than US$420 million in 2021 At a ceremony in August, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet knelt to receive blessings from saffron-robed monks as fireworks and balloons heralded the breaking of ground for a canal he hoped would transform his country’s economic fortunes. Addressing hundreds of people waving the Cambodian flag, Hun Manet said China would contribute 49 percent to the funding of the Funan Techo Canal that would link the Mekong River to the Gulf of Thailand and reduce Cambodia’s shipping reliance on Vietnam. Cambodia’s government estimates the strategic, if contentious, infrastructure project would cost US$1.7 billion, nearly 4 percent of the nation’s annual GDP. However, months later,
Texas’ education board on Friday voted to allow Bible-infused teachings in elementary schools, joining other Republican-led US states that pushed this year to give religion a larger presence in public classrooms. The curriculum adopted by the Texas State Board of Education, which is controlled by elected Republicans, is optional for schools to adopt, but they would receive additional funding if they do so. The materials could appear in classrooms as early as next school year. Republican Texas Governor Greg Abbott has voiced support for the lesson plans, which were provided by the state’s education agency that oversees the more than
Ireland, the UK and France faced travel chaos on Saturday and one person died as a winter storm battered northwest Europe with strong winds, heavy rain, snow and ice. Hampshire Police in southern England said a man died after a tree fell onto a car on a major road near Winchester early in the day. Police in West Yorkshire said they were probing whether a second death from a traffic incident was linked to the storm. It is understood the road was not icy at the time of the incident. Storm Bert left at least 60,000 properties in Ireland without power, and closed
RSS