China: Mine collapse leaves more dead and 49 missing

BEIJING (AP) — The death toll in an open-pit coal mine collapse in northern China has risen to four, with 49 others still missing, state broadcaster CCTV reported Thursday. .

Rescue efforts have been suspended for several hours after another landslide at the huge mining facilities located in the vast Alxa region of Inner Mongolia.

According to state media, the landslide occurred at 6 p.m. Wednesday, some five hours after one of the walls of the shaft buried people and trucks collapsed.

Some 900 rescuers with heavy machinery were at the site, which resumed operations on Thursday morning, the official Xinhua news agency reported.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for putting “every effort into search and rescue” as well as “ensuring the safety of people’s lives and property and maintaining overall social stability.”

CCTV footage of the collapse showed a huge wall of rubble rolling down the slope onto people and vehicles.

The company operating the mine, Inner Mongolia Xinjing Coal Industry Co. Ltd., was singled out and fined last year for various safety violations ranging from unsafe access routes to improper storage of volatile materials and to the lack of training of their security supervisors, the newspaper reported. news site.

Inner Mongolia is a key region for mining coal and other rare minerals and materials. According to critics, this activity has devastated the traditional landscape of mountains, grassy steppe and desert.

China relies heavily on coal for power generation and has tried to reduce the number of mining accidents by putting more emphasis on safety and shutting down small facilities that lacked the necessary equipment.

Most deaths in the area are attributed to explosions caused by the buildup of methane and coal dust, or drownings caused by miners entering shafts abandoned by flooding.

In recent months, China has seen many fatal accidents in industry and construction due to poor safety training and regulations, official corruption and the tendency of companies to cut costs to achieve profits.

China’s economy has slowed in part due to the draconian shutdowns and quarantines imposed under the now abandoned “zero COVID” protocol.