More then twelve Workers killed in mine fire in China

CHINA | 11 – 01 – 2010 | At least 12 people have been killed in a fire at a coal mine in China’s southeastern Jiangxi province. The chief of the coal mine management section in Xinyu city said a short circuit in an underground cable had caused the fire at the Miashong mine late Friday afternoon.

The mine had a licence to operate and was in the process of doubling its production capacity from 30,000 tons a year to 60,000 tons, the official said. China has one of the world’s highest rates of death from mining accidents.

Many of the accidents are blamed on poor safety as mining companies scramble to feed the country’s growing demand for coal. Much of China has plunged into extreme cold in recent weeks and shortages of energy, particularly gas and coal, have threatened to disrupt heating in many areas.

At least 25 miners died in mining accident on Tuesday when underground cables caught fire at the Lisheng coal mine in Xiangtan city in the central province of Hunan. In November, 108 miners were trapped and killed by a coal mine blast in the north-eastern province of Heilongjiang. According to China’s Work Safety Administration, at least 671 people died in coal mine accidents in 2009.