Rescuers get ready to go down into the pit to search for survivors at the site of the accident at the Xinxing Coal Mine in Hegang City, northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, on Nov. 22, 2009. (Xinhua/Wang Song) Photo Gallery>>>
HEGANG, Heilongjiang, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- The death toll from the deadly coal mine blast in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has risen to 104, said local authorities early Monday morning.
Another four are still trapped in the shaft.
The blast happened at around 2:30 a.m. Saturday at the Xinxing Coal Mine under the state-owned Heilongjiang Longmei Mining Holding Group's subsidiary in Hegang City. A total of 528 miners were working underground when the blast happened.
BEIJING, Nov. 23 -- When Wang Jiguo first noticed a sudden rise in gas levels in the Xinxing Coal Mine, he shouted to more than 500 colleagues underground to get out right away.
Soon afterward, a blast rocked the site and shook the surrounding area in Hegang, Heilongjiang province. Full story
BEIJING, Nov. 23 -- It snowed earlier this year in northern China and heating systems were switched on ahead of schedule to keep residents warm. Yet not many people are aware that this means more coal is being burnt, and even fewer would spare a thought for those who bring the fossil fuel from hundreds of meters under to the ground.
Until, that is, another big accident wakes us up to the extremely dangerous condition under which miners work. A gas explosion which took place early Saturday morning in a State-owned coalmine in Hegang of Heilongjiang province has claimed 92 lives and another 16 are still trapped in the shaft. Full story
HEGANG, Heilongjiang, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) -- Struggling hard to hold back her tears, Zhang Xueyan looked at her watch every several minutes.
"I could give up anything, if only he could be back safe and sound," said Zhang, wife of a miner missing in the fatal blast at the Xinxing Coal Mine in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province. Eighty-seven miners have died and 21 others were missing after the blast. Full story
HARBIN, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- A gas explosion in a coal mine in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province has killed 42 miners and left further 66 trapped, said Zhang Jinguang, a spokesman with the rescue headquarters.
A total of 528 miners were working underground at the time of the blast at around 2:30 a.m. Saturday. Among them, 415 have escaped the accident. Full story
