Beijing, April 13: The death toll from a coal mine flood in northern China has risen to 36 with the recovery of another body, leaving two people still unaccounted for, state-run Xinhua news agency said Tuesday.
Rescue work was continuing but hopes of finding more survivors were fading more than two weeks after the disaster at the unfinished Wangjialing mine in Shanxi province, China’s coal-producing heartland.
The March 28 flood at the mine had left 153 workers trapped underground, but 115 were rescued alive last week.
However, the rescue effort has stalled since then, with high water levels, blocked passages and hazardous gas levels hindering progress.
Such accidents are common in China’s coal sector, where safety concerns in mines are widely ignored in the rush to satisfy surging demand for the fuel — source of about 70 percent of the country’s energy.
The flood is the latest deadly accident to embarrass the government, which had responded to frequent mining disasters in recent years with a much-touted campaign to improve safety and shut dangerous mines.
More than 2,600 miners were killed in China last year, according to government figures, although labour activists say the actual numbers are probably far higher.
-Agencies