More than 50 missing after coal mine collapse in northern China

Four deaths were confirmed as of Thursday as rescuers worked to save miners at the Inner Mongolia site.

Rescuers in northern China were working Thursday to rescue 53 coal miners missing after an open-pit mine collapsed. At least four deaths have been confirmed, local officials and state media said. what appeared to be the time of the collapse on Wednesday afternoon. As a stream of workers, seen from afar, weaves through a narrow basin, a landslide occurs, blanketing the area in rocks and sand and obscuring the view of the miners.

Wei Zhiguo, one of the leaders of the rescue effort, told CCTV there was a second landslide while emergency personnel were at the scene. "Rescue work is still going on in a very intense and orderly manner," he said.

Six people were rescued on Thursday, CCTV reported. Among them was Ma Jianping, who was interviewed by the state broadcaster from a hospital bed. He said he noticed "gravel falling from the mountain" as he started the work day.

"As we saw the situation worsen, we organized an evacuation but we couldn't do it in time," he said. "Soon after, the whole mountain collapsed."

Hundreds of people die each year in coal mining accidents in China, although the industry's safety record has improved dramatically. Last year, the number of people killed in these accidents was about 240, up from more than 2,600 in 2009, according to data from government agencies.Most deaths were attributed to failure to follow safety protocols, including ventilation requirements.

In 2020, at least 16 people died of carbon monoxide poisoning after being trapped in a coal mine in in the southwest city of Chongqing. At least 23 people were killed at another mine in the same city a few months later.

Inner Mongolia has long been a key area for coal mining in China. In 2021, to avoid an energy shortage, the central government ordered more than 70 mines in the region to increase production, although Chinese leaders pledged to phase out coal at a coal summit. climate in Glasgow soon after. In 2021, coal accounted for about 56% of China's energy consumption, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.

Inner Mongolia Xinjing Coal Industry, which operates the coal mine, was incorporated in 1999, according to a Chinese business data platform, Qichacha. No major accidents are known to have occurred at the mine before. Attempts to reach the company by telephone were not immediately successful.