Lax safety standards! by Barbora Misakova

Just the simple idea of being trapped in flooded coal mine for six days makes me feeling desperate. Workers from northern China don’t have to imagine anything, they are simply living it – 153 of them had been trapped in the Wangjialing mine. On March 28 it was flooded during construction work. As press reports informed, the accident occurred when workers dug into an older adjacent mine full of water. About 2,000 rescuers had been pumping water out of the mine which level was higher than anticipated. On Sunday night first 9 survivors were found. As state television reported, by this morning a total of 95 workers have been found alive and 30 have been taken out of! the mine shaft so far. Six days with no food or water made the workers dehydrated so when they were pulled out, the rescue workers administered intravenous drips and oxygen and loaded them into awaiting ambulances. The question of safety is somehow always forgotten as far as work in mines is concerned. The Huajin Coking Coal Company – the mine owner was blamed for this accident as it failed to heed repeated warnings about the accumulating water in the pit. What is more, workers had also been ordered to step up the pace of work. This was just another example of ignoring workers’ safety in China’s collieries where the quick profit is the main aim. The official statistics point out there were 2,631 coal miners killed last year in China what represents about seven workers a day.

related story (sgx16912): http://www! .france24.com/en/20100404-nine-survivors-rescued-d...
by Barbora Misakova
for Cantell TV (http://cantell.tv)
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