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Published: Dec. 29, 2009 at 12:44 AM
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BEIJING, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Two coal mine accidents Sunday and Monday in China killed at least 17 miners, authorities said.
Coal gas buildup caused a mineshaft to collapse early Monday, killing five workers and trapping six in a mine in Shuangbai County, Yunnan province, China Daily reported.
On Sunday, only about two hours prior to the Monday incident, 12 miners died after coal gas ignited in a mine in Jiexiu city in Shanxi province, the state-run Xinhua news agency reported. Four miners were hospitalized with injuries.
The efforts to rescue the six trapped miners in Yunnan province were hampered by coal gas that spewed out of the shaft entrance, local government officials said.
"We have already recovered five bodies," one official said. "We are now struggling to reach the six trapped miners."
In the Shanxi province mine incident, local party officials proposed to dismiss Jiexiu city Vice Mayor Han Haiyun, who was in charge of coal mine safety; Zhang Yiqian, head of the local municipal administration of coal mine safety; and Yang Guangdong, assistant mayor, the report said. Police detained five coal mine executives including the chairman, general manager and head of the mine.
A mine explosion in northeast Heilongjiang province last month killed at least 107 miners. Safety officials and investigators blamed poor management and inadequate safety precautions for that blast.
Authorities say accidents and fatalities at small coal mines are declining as more of them are closed. Such mines, mostly privately owned and lacking in enforcement of safety standards, have accounted for most of the accidents.
