Thaindian News

October 17, 2010 (Pen Men at Work): Just days after the heroic and miraculous rescue of the 33 miners trapped underground for 69 days in Chile, reports are pouring in from the mine blast that occurred in China on Saturday morning. Evidently, a gas leak occurred at the mine owned by Pingyu Coal & Electric Co Ltd based in Yuzhou City, where 276 miners were on duty.

As per initial reports, 239 workers were rescued, unharmed, and 21 were found dead, while 16 others remained trapped. Rescue efforts were hampered by the enormous amounts of coal dust that was blasted into the mine after the explosion and as per latest reports by the state media, the death toll has risen to 26 as of Sunday morning and no information is available on the 11 remaining miners who are still trapped inside.

China is said to have the most mining related accidents and deaths, with the casualty numbers reaching 2, 600 in 2009 alone, in stark contrast to only 34 mining related deaths in the United States in the same time period, according to the federal Mine Safety and Health Administration. Chinese authorities are aware of this and have vowed several times in the past to take strict actions against all unsafe mines and mine owners and have even closed down several facilities which do not adhere to the regulations and safety standards imposed upon them. However, as it turns out, Pingyu Coal & Electric Co Ltd is at least partly owned by the state.