LEAD: Chinese coal mine explosion kills 13, traps 18

Asian Economic News, Nov 13, 2000

BEIJING, Nov. 7 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATES TOLL, ADDS DETAIL)

A gas explosion in a coal mine in northeast China's Jilin Province has killed 13 miners and left 18 others missing and believed trapped underground, the official China Daily reported Tuesday.

The explosion, at the Xian Coal Mine in Liaoyuan District, occurred Sunday, but by late Monday only two of the originally trapped 33 miners had been rescued. The rescued are in serious condition, while the condition of the remaining 18 underground remains unknown, it said.

The explosion is the latest in a string of mining accidents that have claimed 2,730 lives in the first half of this year alone, according to China's State Coal Industry Bureau.

A similar gas explosion killed 160 in Jiangxi Province's Muchongguo mines in late September. And last week, 13 were killed and eight seriously injured when a fire broke out in another coal mine in Jiangxi.

Several gas explosions and the trapping of 19 prison-workers at mines in Sichuan Province recently prompted provincial officials to order the closure of all small mines until they can be inspected for safety, the daily reported.

The industry bureau launched a high-profile campaign to promote mine safety and close dangerous mines in August. But mines condemned by national authorities are often reopened with the blessing of local officials, who can milk them for profits, observers say.

Such mines are among the most dangerous, and accidents there are easily covered up and are rarely included in the already-high official death toll, they say.