‘All-out efforts’ in northern China to rescue dozens of missing miners

Rescuers with backhoes and bulldozers dug through tons of earth and rubble for 48 people missing after a landslide buried an open-pit mine in northern China. State broadcaster CCTV reported that the death toll in the disaster had risen to five.

The situation in the area remains dangerous, and the search had to be suspended for several hours after the second landslide at the giant facility in Inner Mongolia’s Alxa League.

On Thursday afternoon, more than a dozen bulldozers, trucks, SUVs and fire engines were seen passing a remote police checkpoint about 25 kilometers southwest of the mine.

Almost all personnel were intercepted by the police and checked for entry approval before being allowed to proceed to the road leading to the mine.

Police officers said only those approved by the government were allowed access to the area. He said people living near the mine have been sent to nearby towns.

The initial cave-in in one of the pit walls occurred at around 13:00 local time on Wednesday, burying a man and a mining truck under rocks and sand. This was followed approximately five hours later by additional landslides, forcing the suspension of work.

The cause of the disaster is still under investigation.

Previous safety violations

The official Xinhua News Agency said about 900 rescuers with heavy equipment were at the scene and were continuing the search on Thursday morning.

Chinese President Xi Jinping called for “all-out efforts to search and rescue” and “ensure the safety of people’s lives and property and maintain overall social stability.”

Images of the collapse released by CCTV showed a huge wall of debris cascading down the slope onto people and vehicles below.

The company that operates the mine, Inner Mongolia Xinjing Coal Industry Co. Ltd., was fined last year for various safety violations ranging from unsafe routes to and from pits, to unsafe storage of volatile materials and lack of training for safety staff. , according to news website The Paper.

Inner Mongolia is a key region for mining coal and various minerals and rare earths that critics say has destroyed the region’s mountainous, steppe and desert landscapes.

China relies heavily on coal to generate power but has tried to reduce the number of deadly mine accidents through a greater emphasis on safety and the closure of small operations that lack the necessary equipment.

China has recorded a series of industrial and construction accidents in recent months due to poor safety training and regulations, official corruption and a tendency to cut companies that want to make a profit.

Despite the peak of incidents, the number of industrial accidents fell by 27 percent in 2022, when much of China’s economy was closed under a zero-COVID policy, in the previous year, the Ministry of Emergency Management announced last month. . The number of deaths in such accidents also fell by 23.6 percent, the ministry said.