60 dead in mine tragedies

The death toll from a coal mine explosion in Jiangxi province rose to 15 on Monday afternoon when the last missing miner was found dead.

The Jiangxi tragedy is the country's second serious coal mine blast within a week after a deadly accident in Sichuan province on Wednesday left 45 dead and one missing.

Rescuers found the body of the last miner, identified as Zhou Ping, in the shaft of Gaokeng Coal Mine in Pingxiang city in Jiangxi at about 3:10 pm, the rescue headquarters said in a statement.

Eleven injured miners are still receiving medical treatment at a local hospital. Of the six critically injured, five suffered burns to more than 50 percent of their bodies.

Thirty-eight miners were working in the mine when the accident occurred at about 12:55 pm Sunday. Twenty-three escaped the mine either on their own or were pulled to safety by rescuers.

A working team sent by the State Administration of Work Safety arrived at the accident site on Monday morning to direct the rescue work and its aftermath.

The mine is a subsidiary of the State-owned Jiangxi Coal Group Corp.

An investigation into the cause of the accident is under way.

In Panzhihua, Sichuan province, the death toll of Wednesday's mine blast has climbed to 45, as another body was retrieved late Sunday evening. 

More than 2,000 search and rescue personnel, 300 of whom are professionals, are taking turns to look for the last miner trapped underground.

"They are sparing no efforts in the search and rescue operation although the chance of survival for the miner is slim, and they think he is in the core area of the explosion," said Mu Fei, deputy chief of the Panzhihua city government information office.

A total of 154 miners were in the Xiaojiawan Coal Mine in Panzhihua when the gas explosion happened at about 5 pm on Wednesday; 108 of them survived.

There was no gas sensor where the workers drilled - which would have automatically cut the power - so work continued despite the excessive amount of gas.

Yang Dongliang, head of the State Administration of Work Safety, said the lack of a gas sensor was a crime against miners. 

"I felt very sad at the sight of the bodies of miners and their grieving relatives (in the Xiaojiawan Coal Mine)," he said.

Yang is head of the State Council investigation group that is probing the explosion, looking at whether government workers had been derelict in their duty, showed favoritism, or otherwise undermined the law. 

The group is made up of leading officials from the State Administration of Work Safety, State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, National Energy Administration, Ministry of Supervision, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and the Sichuan provincial government. 

"There had been no major industrial accidents in Panzhihua for five years. As a result, vigilance had been lax in terms of work safety," said Panzhihua Mayor Zhang Yan. 

On Sunday, a leading group of coal mine safety inspectors established themselves in the city. Thirty-three leading officials are heading 33 inspection teams to conduct a month-long safety production inspection.

Telephone numbers for people to report safety concerns will be available via the media. All 103 coal mines in the city have suspended operations. 

"Mines which fail to meet safety requirements will be closed," Zhang said.