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Updated Monday, November 23, 2009 1:50 pm TWN, By CARA ANNA, AP



	A coal miner helps rescuers ride a railway trolley as they head into the site of a gas explosion at the Xinxing mine in Hegang, Heilongjiang province, China, yesterday. Rescuers worked in frigid cold to reach 21 miners trapped underground, yesterday after a huge gas explosion in the northern Chinese mine, the deadliest blast to hit the beleaguered industry in nearly two years. (AP) More Photos (2)

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Miners' families want answers in China mine blast

Another woman, whose husband Hou Yubin was among the dead, remained seated and silent. She was later laid across some chairs with an IV in her arm as a nurse hovered nearby.

An investigation is under way by China's State Administration of Work Safety, as top leaders were dispatched to Heilongjiang. Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang arrived over the weekend to oversee the rescue effort, and urged safety measures to be stepped up at coal mines nationwide. Search and rescue efforts appeared to be over at the blast site by Monday morning.

The Xinxing mine's director, deputy director and chief engineer were fired, said an employee, who refused to give his name because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The blast at the nearly 100-year-old mine in Heilongjiang (pronounced HAY-long-jeeahng) province, near the Russian border, shows the difficulties the central government faces in trying to improve safety. In recent years, it has shuttered or absorbed hundreds of smaller, private mines into state-owned operations, which are considered generally safer.

The government says the closure of about 1,000 smaller, often illegal mines last year has helped cut fatalities. The largest major mining accident in recent years occurred in September 2007, with 181 miners killed when shafts at two neighboring mines flooded in eastern Shandong province.

China has the deadliest mining industry in the world, but coal is vital for the country's economy, which is targeted to grow by 8 percent this year.

Government officials have been trying to increase safety standards. In the first six months of the year, 1,175 people died, marking a drop of 18.4 percent from the same period the previous year.

"Development is important, but the growth of GDP shouldn't be achieved at the price of miners' blood," said provincial governor Li Zhanshu over the weekend, urging officials to better manage coal mines.

Of the 528 people reported working in the mine at the time of the explosion, 420 escaped, Xinhua reported. On Monday, Dr. Han Songtai at Xingshan Hospital said 18 miners were being treated at his facility, five of them in serious condition. The injured were also taken to other hospitals in the area.

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