BEIJING — At least two individuals have died and greater than 50 are lacking after a coal mine collapsed in northern China’s Inner Mongolia area on Wednesday, state media reported.
The collapse occurred in Alxa League within the western a part of the area at round 1 p.m. (0500 GMT), in accordance with state broadcaster CCTV.
“Currently, the incident has caused the deaths of two people and injured six, with 53 missing,” CCTV stated in a social media publish.
Earlier Wednesday, CCTV reported {that a} collapse had occurred over a “wide area” of an open-pit mine operated by the Xinjing Coal Mining Company.
“A number of working staff and vehicles have been buried,” the broadcaster stated on the time, including that rescue personnel have been dispatched to the scene.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed authorities to “do everything possible to search for and rescue the missing people,” CCTV reported.
Officials should “use all their strength to rescue and treat the injured, protect the security of people’s lives and property as well as overall social stability,” Xi stated, in accordance with the broadcaster.
Eight rescue groups comprising greater than 330 personnel have been dispatched to the positioning, together with over 100 items of rescue gear, state-affiliated outlet The Paper reported.
Phone calls to the mining firm by AFP went unanswered on Wednesday night.
Mine security in China has improved in latest many years, as has media protection of main incidents, lots of which have been as soon as neglected.
But accidents nonetheless happen ceaselessly in an trade the place security protocols are sometimes lax, particularly on the most rudimentary websites.
Some 40 individuals have been working underground when a gold mine within the northwestern Xinjiang area collapsed in December.
In 2021, 20 miners have been rescued from a flooded coal mine in northern Shanxi province whereas two others died. — Agence France-Presse
Source: www.gmanetwork.com
