At Least 2 dead, More Than 50 Missing In China Mine Collapse

BEIJING, China — According to state media, on Wednesday, an open pit mine collapsed in China’s northern Inner Mongolia region, killing at least two people and leaving more than 50 missings.

According to the official Xinhua News Agency, people were buried beneath debris at the mine in Alxa League. According to the report, six people were rescued with injuries, and 53 people were still missing.

A short video of the collapse on the Beijing Times newspaper’s website showed a massive wall of reddish dirt or sand rushing down a slope onto mining vehicles moving below.

Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for “all-out efforts in the search and rescue of the missing and treatment of the injured,” according to Xinhua. Xi called for “ensuring the safety of people’s lives and property, as well as maintaining overall social stability,” according to the statement.

According to Xinhua, the search involved more than 300 rescue workers and 129 rescue vehicles.

According to the news website The Paper, the mine’s operator, Inner Mongolia Xinjiang Coal Industry Co. Ltd., was cited and fined last year for multiple safety violations ranging from insecure access routes to the mining surface to unsafe storage of volatile materials and a lack of training for its safety overseers.

Coal Can Be Found In This Mine

Inner Mongolia is a key region for coal, mineral, and rare earth mining, which critics say has ravaged the original landscape of mountains, grassy steppes, and deserts.

China relies heavily on coal for power generation, but it has attempted to reduce the number of fatal mine accidents by emphasizing safety and closing smaller operations that lacked the necessary equipment.

Most mining fatalities are attributed to explosions caused by methane and coal dust buildup or drownings caused when miners break into abandoned shafts due to flooding.

In recent months, China has seen fatal industrial and construction accidents due to poor safety training and regulation, official corruption, and a penchant for profiteering by companies. The economy has slowed partly because of the now-abandoned “zero COVID” policy’s draconian lockdowns and quarantines.

In one of the most recent tragedies, 38 people were killed in a fire at a chemical and industrial goods company in the central province of Henan, which was blamed on unsafe welding work.

An avalanche buried vehicles outside a highway tunnel in Tibet last month, killing at least 28 people. Many trapped people were returning home for the Lunar New Year holiday.

SOURCE – (AP)