53 people were “missing or dead” after a coal mine in northern China collapsed last month, according to a top official as search and rescue efforts appeared to be winding down.
On February 22, a 180 meter-high (590 foot) slope at an open-pit mine in the Alxa Left Banner area of Inner Mongolia came way, burying dozens of people and cars.
Although Beijing’s ministry of emergency management ordered “all-out efforts” to save 47 workers who were unaccounted for, rescue workers originally found six people alive while discovering another six dead.
The ministry’s head, however, stated on Tuesday that no additional victims had been located two weeks after the tragedy and that the emphasis was now on ensuring such.According to the state-run China Youth Daily newspaper, Wang Xiangxi said on the margins of annual political sessions in Beijing that the collapse “left 53 individuals missing or dead, which has made us really unhappy”.
“The implications of this are enormous. The next phase of our work will prioritize preventing significant accidents, “added said.
Wang was quoted in the newspaper as adding that authorities would seek to ratchet up safety precautions, uncover concealed dangers, and encourage automation in high-risk industries.
Alxa Left Banner is a dry, thinly populated region, and its economy is heavily dependent on mining and other extractive industries.
Footage from state broadcaster CCTV at the time of the collapse showed rescue workers and excavators dwarfed by a mountain of rust-coloured rubble.Mine safety in China has improved in recent decades but accidents are still frequent in an industry where safety protocols are often lax, especially at the most rudimentary sites.
Around 40 people were working underground when a gold mine in the northwestern Xinjiang region collapsed in December.
In 2021, 20 miners were rescued from a flooded coal mine in northern Shanxi province, while two others died.
