At least 33 people, including 28 mine workers, were killed when
an electric cable caught fire inside a coal shaft and an explosion
rocked a shipyard in two separate incidents in China's northwest
and east. The underground cable caught fire at 8:10 pm local time
last night at Xiaonangou coal mine at Sangshuping Township of
Hancheng City, the official Xinhua news agency reported
today.
All the 28 people working in the mine in northwest China's
Shaanxi province were killed in the accident, it said.
Rescuers retrieved remains of five miners today, the report
said.
Mine accidents have become a routine in energy hungry-China due
to poor safety standards.
According to official data, a total of 2,631 miners were killed
in China last year but independent labour groups say the actual
figure could be much higher.
In another incident, five workers were killed in an explosion at
a shipyard in east China's Jiangxi Province yesterday. One worker
was still missing.
The accident happened around 2:10 am local time at the Tongfang
Jiangxin Shipbuilding Co. shipyard in Hukou County, local safety
authorities said.
The cause of the accident is not yet known, Xinhua
reported.
The accident victims were workers from Jingcheng Industrial Co,
a subcontractor that paints and decorates ships.
Founded in 1966, the shipyard earlier used to be a state-owned
firm under China State Shipbuilding Corporation.
Beijing-based Tsinghua Tongfang became the shipyard's owner
after reforms in 2006.
