Coal collapse victims' families to get 780,000 yuan

A coal mine yard in southwest Yunnan Province has reached a compensation agreement with the victims' families over an accident that killed nine on Tuesday, local authorities said Thursday.

Each family of the victims will be paid 780,000 yuan (124,000 U.S. dollars) by the Pingqingdui Coal Yard as one-off compensation, said a spokesman with the Fuyuan county government in the city of Qujing.

A coal collapse buried 11 workers at the coal yard in the township of Shibalianshan at 5:20 p.m. Tuesday.

The 11 were eventually pulled out of the heap, but nine died while on the way to the hospital. The other two suffered injuries but not life threatening, and one has already been discharged from the hospital, according to the spokesman.

Days of rain and snow had increased the humidity of the coal and reduced its friction, which may have caused the accident, the spokesman said.