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China reports evident decrease of deaths in coal mine accidents
BEIJING—China saw the
fatalities of coal mine accidents per million tons of coal produced in
2006 drop by 60 percent from that of 2001, according to the country’s
top work safety watchdog. About 5.07 people were killed on average for
every million tons of coal mined in 2001, and the figure was reduced to
2.04 in 2006,said Wang Xianzheng, deputy director of the State
Administration of Work Safety.
China reported a total coal output of more than 2.3 billion tons last
year, with 4,746 people killed in mine accidents, a 20.1-percent drop
from the previous year. In 2001, there were a total of 2,384 coal mine
accidents which killed 6,078 people.
In recent years, mining security has remained one of the top concerns of
the Chinese government, which has imposed stricter supervision and
tougher penalties to restrain illegal operations.
Earlier reports said that a total of 1,066 coal mine accidents took
place in the first half of this year, causing 1,792 deaths. The figures
were respectively 18.5 percent and 14.3 percent lower than those in the
same period of last year.
“The coal mine accidents have kept decreasing since 2002,” said Wang,
who is confident to see better security conditions.
Over the last two years, China has closed more than 9,000 small mines
and will shut another 1,000 by the end of 2007.
About 9 billion yuan (1.18 billion U.S. dollars) has been poured into
the mining industry to improve safety, including updating technologies
for the better control of methane gas that has triggered most deadly
explosions in small mines.
But officials also admitted on different occasions that China still
faces a long-term struggle to meet international standards and the
improvements are made in a progressive way.
Earlier reports said that the rate of fatalities per million tons of
coal mined in 2005 in China was 70 times worse than the United States
and seven times higher than in Russia and India.
Beijing is to close down at least 1,000 small coal mines before the end
of next year’s Olympic Games.
A circular jointly released last week by the Beijing municipal bureau of
land and resources and the public security bureau ordered all unlicensed
coal mines to cease operation immediately, dismantle their equipment,
sack miners and hand in explosives within 15 days.
Owners who turn in themselves to police can have their punishment
lessened or exempted, said the circular. Illegal coal mine owners may
face imprisonment with those exploiting more than 50,000 tons of coal
looking at sentences of at least 10 years.
People who provide clues for the police can receive a reward of 1,000
yuan to 10,000 yuan (132 U.S. dollars to 1,320 U.S. dollars). Beijing is
believed to have more than 1,000 small coal mines in its western
Fangshan and Mentougou districts.
Small coal mines account for two thirds of the deaths resulting from
coal mine accidents in China. In 2006, accidents in small coal mines
claimed 3,431 lives.—Xinhua |
