BEIJING, Dec 16, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Seven miners were killed and three others
injured in an accident at a coal mine in southwestern China, state media
reported.
The accident occurred around 6.00pm (1000 GMT) Saturday after the
connecting segment of a mining skip broke, causing it to plummet down the
mine shaft, the official Xinhua news agency said.
The three injured miners were rushed to hospital following the accident,
which took place in southwestern Chongqing municipality.
The cause of the incident is still under investigation.
Deadly mining accidents are common in China, where the industry has a poor
safety record, despite efforts to improve coal production conditions and
crack down on illegal mines.
In October, 21 miners died in eastern Shandong province after pressure
inside a mine caused rocks to fracture and break, blocking the tunnel and
trapping the workers. Only one miner was rescued alive.
In December 2016, explosions in two separate coal mines in the Inner
Mongolia region and in northeastern Heilongjiang province killed at least 59
people.
According to China’s National Coal Mine Safety Administration, the country
saw 375 coal mining related deaths in 2017, down 28.7 percent year-on-year.
However, despite improvements, “the situation of coal mine safety
production is still grim,” said the bureau in a statement following a coal
mine safety conference in January.