China: 34 miners killed, 9 trapped in coalmine accident

Thirty-four miners were confirmed dead Sunday in a coalmine gas leak accident in southwest Chinas Yunnan province and 9 miners are still trapped underground.The accident occurred Thursday at Sizhuang Coalmine, located in the county of Shizong, Qujing.The key work at present is to pump out gas, which has begun since around 16:00 on Sunday.Our next step is to search miners at level 1724. The problems we are facing now are coal dust and high gas concentration, which has reached nearly 55 percent. So our main work is to pump the gas out, clear coal dust and drain the water out, said Li Jianjun, secretary-general of Qujing city.The nine miners are all trapped at level 1747. More rescuers and rescuing material have been sent in.About 200 rescuers in six groups are taking turns round the clock searching for the trapped miners.We will never give up one single miner. We will never abandon one single miner. We will do our best to do a good job of the rescue work, said Li Jianjun.Qi Guming, who should have been with the miners down the shaft representing the enterprise leadership on the day when the accident occurred, lied, saying that he did go down the shaft as regulations require and that he escaped the scene after the accident happened.A police report shows that Qi Guming confessed that in fact he did not go down the shaft on that day, which means that he had lied. His case is under further investigation, said Li Jianjun.The State Administration of Work Safety issued on Nov. 18, 2010 clearly stipulates that at least one member of the leadership of the mine enterprise must be down in the mine at each shift to be with the miners and come up the shaft with the miners of the shift.After the Sizhuang coalmine accident occurred, Qi Guming said he had been down the mine but successfully escaped from the accident scene. The local government said the police will make detailed investigate in accordance with law.