Anger mounts as hopes dim for trapped China miners
CHINA: Chinese authorities on Tuesday tried to placate
anguished relatives of 181 men trapped in flooded coal mine shafts with
little hope of survival as accusations spread of official failures and
censorship.
The miners have been trapped since Friday when a river dyke burst in
torrential rain, sending water rushing into two mine shafts in the
eastern province of Shandong — a main one where 172 miners were working
and another nearby where there were nine.
Rescuers continued frantic efforts to pump the mines dry in the faint
hope that some of those trapped were still alive.
“For those family members of miners who rushed to the site, the local
government is actively working to settle them in accommodation and has
brought people to greet and console them in order to safeguard order and
stability in the coal mining area,” said a notice on the central
government’s Web site (www.gov.cn).
Relatives of missing miners on Monday stormed the offices of Huayuan
Mining Co., which runs the bigger shaft, smashing windows and accusing
managers of not telling families what was happening.
Even some of China’s state-run newspapers cast aside restraint to
accuse authorities of failing to protect workers and silencing reporting
of the calamities that often strike mines and worksites.
“This seems to be a natural disaster, but when such natural disasters
happen so often they cannot be just blamed on the pitilessness of
nature,” said the China Youth Daily.
Relatives also furiously disputed the local government’s description
of the mine flood as a natural disaster.
“The weather is a factor, but man-made factors are also extremely
large. Last year, there was also a leak in the mine, so I wouldn’t want
the government to jump a conclusion about the cause,” said Zhang
Chunling, whose brother is one of the missing. One man said he saw mine
managers on Friday trying to close the breach in the river rather than
warning those underground, the China Daily reported.
Xintai, Tuesday, Reuters. |
