Tragedy in China: five dead and dozens missing after mine collapse

collapse my in northern China has caused the death of five people, according to a new balance sheet announced on Thursday by state media, while the search dozens of disappeareds previously interrupted by new slide.

More 50 people trapped when on the hillside 180 meters high fell on a quarry in the province Inner Mongolia (north), around 1300 (0500 GMT) on Wednesday, according to state television CABLE TV.

To a place located in alks league, the name of the administrative unit of the region.

Rescue work was interrupted on Wednesday evening due to a new landslide, but resumed on Thursday at dawn, he explained. Cable TVwhich reports five dead, six injured and 48 missing.

TV footage shows firefighters in orange suits and yellow helmets working with bulldozers to clear debris.

“I had just started working when I saw a landslide coming down the side of a hill. The situation got worse and worse,” said the rescued worker. Ma Jianping.

“We tried to organize an evacuation, but it was too late, a landslide was coming,” he said from a hospital bed in the nearby Ningxia area.

The condition of the injured is said to be stable, the doctor said. CABLE TV.

ongoing investigation

He incident affected “wide area” of the mine operated by the company Xinjing Coal Mining Companyreported Cable TV. On Thursday, the company did not return phone calls from AFP.

“The cause of the collapse is under investigation” and “affected personnel” – a term that likely refers to those responsible for the mine – was detained, the report said. Cable TV with reference to the authorities.

In a video posted on social media by a coal truck driver, rocks can be seen falling down a slope, raising clouds of dust that engulf several vehicles.

“The whole slope collapsed (…) How many people will die from this?” A male voice is heard in the background of the video. “If I stopped there today, I would die too,” adds the voice.

zhang lithe miner who survived explained to the newspaper under a pseudonym Beijing news who was driving towards the mine when a landslide pushed his car into a ditch.

“I have bruises on my skull and scratches on my arms,” he said.

dangerous job

chinese president Xi Jinping he instructed authorities to “do everything possible to search for and rescue the missing,” according to CCTV.

Located in the arid north of China, Alha League is a sparsely populated region whose economy depends on mining and other extractive industries.

Mine safety in China has improved over the past decades, as has media coverage of major incidents that were previously ignored.

However, in an industry that is already dangerous and whose security protocols are sometimes ineffective, claims often arise, especially in remote locations.

About 40 people were working underground when a gold mine collapsed in northwestern Xinjiang in December, and only 22 people were rescued.

In 2021, 20 miners made it out alive from a flooded coal mine in northern Shanxi province, while two others died.

In the same year, 19 miners stuck underground after another coal mine collapsed in Qinghai Province (northwest) were found dead after a long search.

(According to AFP)