|
Download The death toll in Wednesday's mine blast in Sichuan province climbed to 44 on Sunday, as one more body was retrieved in the morning. "More than 2,000 search-and-rescue personnel are looking for the last two miners trapped in the pit," said Mu Fei, deputy chief of the Panzhihua city government information office. A total of 154 miners were in the Xiaojiawan Coal Mine in Panzhihua when the gas explosion took place around 5 pm on Wednesday. Of the 108 survivors, 54 are receiving treatment in four hospitals in the city. "It's the largest gas explosion in the country since 2009. The death toll accounts of one-quarter of the country's total in gas accidents in the first eight months of this year," said Wu Yin, deputy chief of the National Energy Administration. Wu is a member of the State Council investigation group probing the explosion. The group is made up of leading officials from the State Administration of Work Safety, State Administration of Coal Mine Safety, National Energy Administration, Ministry of Supervision, the All-China Federation of Trade Unions and the Sichuan provincial government. Group members have said malpractice and poor management caused the accident. "The mine owner allowed miners to drill at a site not permitted by regulations. And there was no gas sensor where the workers drilled - which would have automatically cut the power - so work continued despite the excessive amount of gas," said Fu Jianhua, director of the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety. | 
