Never appeared in print to us, readers:
"China says 31 dead, 82 trapped in mine" by Associated Press | November 21, 2009
BEIJING - A gas explosion tore through a coal mine in northern China today, killing 31 people and trapping another 82 nearly a third of a mile under ground, central government authorities said.
Another 389 people at the Xinxing mine in Heilongjiang Province escaped after the 2:30 a.m. explosion. The explosion was caused by a gas buildup. The mine is run by one of China’s top 520 state-owned enterprises, according to the website of its owner, the Hegang branch of the Heilongjiang Longmei Holding Mining Group. The site says the Hegang branch has more than 88,000 employees.
The mine is located near the border with Russia, about 250 miles northeast of the provincial capital, Harbin. China’s mines are the world’s deadliest, with unregulated operations accounting for almost 80 percent of the country’s 16,000 mines....
Oh, so it wasn't really 'news," huh? This must happen all the time, ho-hum?
Most accidents are blamed on failures to follow safety rules, including a lack of required ventilation or fire control equipment. A blast at the Tunlan coal mine in northern China’s Shanxi Province killed 77 people in February, China’s worst industrial accident in a year.
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I don't know, Chinese people.
I guess the Glob has more important items to cover:
- Gorbachev ponders political comeback
- Guatemala resuming adoptions
- Couple admits to spying for Cuba
- In Cuba, diamond diplomacy
Related: Israeli Spying: The Mother of all Scandals
One-Day Wonder: The Spy Who Loved Israel
And speaking of diamonds!
Update:
My bad. I got a SUNDAY BRIEF!
HARBIN - Rescuers worked in frigid cold to reach 21 coal miners trapped underground today as the death toll from a huge gas explosion rose to 87. The predawn blast Saturday at the state-run Xinxing mine in Heilongjiang Province near the border with Russia was the latest to hit China’s mining industry, the world’s deadliest.
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