China orders mines shutdown after fatal accidents

South western China’s Sichuan province has ordered all small-scale coal mining operations shut down following weekend accidents that killed 51 people.

All small Sichuan mines must submit to safety inspections, said a provincial Government spokeswoman.

Scattered small scale operations are largely unregulated and lacking in even the most basic safety equipment such as ventilation to disperse deadly gas.

The order was issued as rescuers were abandoning hopes of saving 39 miners trapped when water flooded their mine in Sichuan’s Nanxi county on Friday, the official China Daily reported.

All the miners are now presumed dead, the paper said.

Another 12 miners were killed Sunday by gas explosions in two other Sichuan mines, the paper said.

In an unprecedented move to pressure officials into improving mine safety, China’s central government last week issued an official demerit to Shaanxi provincial governor Cheng Andong over three mine disasters in his province in April that killed a total of 103 miners.

The labour minister said that measure was aimed at demonstrating the government’s determination to force improvements.

More than 4,800 Chinese miners died last year from gas leaks, floods, explosions, fires and cave-ins, making China’s mining operations the world’s deadliest.

New safety requirements were intended to end the carnage, but appear to have had little effect.

Many renegade mine operations simply ignore regulators who have little power to combat local interests that protect the mines, which provide a crucial source of rural employment and local government revenue.