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China Mine Disaster: Dozens Trapped by
'Rock Burst'
Aovember 4, 211

Dozens oI miners have been

trapped in a coal mine in China aIter a
"rock burst", oIIicials say.
Four miners were killed and 50
more are missing aIter the accident,
which happened late on Thursday in the
city oI Sanmenxia in Henan province.
State media reported that the
rock burst - an explosion caused by the
sudden release oI built-up pressure -
happened shortly aIter an earthquake.
Hundreds oI Chinese miners die every year in pit accidents. The industry is one oI the
most dangerous in the world, and is notorious Ior its lax saIety standards. Earlier this week a gas
explosion at a mine in neighbouring Hunan province killed 29 people. But oIIicials insist the
country's record is improving, and say they have taken action by closing many illegal mines.
State TV showed images oI seven miners being carried out oI the pit alive by rescue
teams carrying oxygen tanks. Six were said to have sustained minor injuries while one was
seriously hurt. OIIicials Irom the state-run Yima Coal Group, which runs the Sanmenxia mine,
said an "intense search" was going on Ior the missing miners.
"The location oI the other miners has been conIirmed and we are stepping up our rescue
eIIorts," a company spokesman told the AFP news agency. Local saIety oIIicials said 75 miners
had been working in the pit at the time oI the explosion. They were reportedly in a 760-metre-
deep shaIt which was blocked by the rock burst at a depth oI 480 metres.
Some 14 managed to escape, seven were rescued and Iour have been conIirmed killed,
leaving 50 others trapped. An earthquake with a magnitude oI 2.9 hit the area shortly beIore the
rock burst. Government saIety chieI Luo Lin told state-run CCTV that the tremor had helped to
cause the rock burst.

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hy are China's mines so dangerous?
China has the world's largest mining industry China has introduced new regulations to
improve saIety in mining, and some will argue that moves towards better saIety can not come too
soon.
China's mines are dangerous by any standard. More than 2,600 Chinese miners died in
accidents last year. The country's saIety record is Iar
worse than that oI other nations. This is partly
because China has the world's largest mining
industry which inevitably makes the raw accident
numbers look high.
But its mine saIety record is also poor by
measures, with the country accounting Ior 40 oI
global coal output but 80 oI mining deaths around
the world each year. A Chinese miner is 100 times
more likely to die in an accident than a miner in the US.
However, China's saIety record is better than it was a Iew years ago. As recently as
2004, more than 6,000 Chinese miners died in mining accidents - more than three times last
year's level oI Iatalities. Traditionally, mining was the single most dangerous occupation in most
countries, not just China. But around the world accident rates have been Ialling.
Open cast mining is typically saIer than underground mining. The trend has been
particularly marked in wealthier nations. In the US, Ior example, mining is now rated as barely
more dangerous as driving on the roads. And there are Iewer deaths in mining in the US than in
either construction or agriculture.
But this does not mean that mining is a saIe
occupation. The Iigures suggest that even today
about 10 Americans are dying every month in
mining accidents. Poorer countries have also seen
the number oI mining deaths come down.
India, which has the world's third largest
coal output aIter China and the US, is a case in
point. In the year 2000, more than 200 miners died
in Indian coal mine accidents.
By 2005, the Iigure was down to 35 deaths. This is the most recent year Ior which Iigures
are available. Mining Iatalities roughly correlate with a country's level oI economic development,
with accidents more common in poor nations than rich ones. In wealthy Australia, Ior example,
seven miners were killed in accidents in 2008, compared with 35 in middle-income Russia.
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However, Russia's record - like that oI most other countries- has greatly improved in
recent years. SaIety is not simply linked to the level oI GDP. One reason why Australia's mines
are relatively saIe is that they are mostly open cast. Underground mines tend to be more
dangerous than operations that involve scooping out minerals close to the surIace.
There have been some serious mining accidents involving hundreds oI deaths in recent
years, but nothing to match the disasters oI the past. The world's worst coal mining accident took
place in a part oI China that was under Japanese occupation during World War II. In that
incident, 1,549 miners died aIter a coal dust explosion at Benxihu Colliery in Liaoning province
in North Eastern China in April 1942.

China introduces mine safety rule
Most mining accidents in China are
blamed on Iailures to Iollow saIety rules.
New regulations have come into Iorce in
China that require managers oI mines to
accompany workers down the shaIts.
Chinese mines are notorious Ior Iatal
accidents. More than 2,500 miners were
killed in China last year. The authorities
hope that putting oIIicials in the mines
alongside their workers will act as a strong incentive to improve saIety conditions.
But already there have been reports oI some managers trying to manipulate the new
regulation. At one mine, seven workers were given jobs as assistant managers to circumvent the
new rule. Beijing says that such tactics will not be allowed. There are an estimated seven million
miners in China - more than the total oI all other coal-producing countries.
Mining is one oI the most dangerous jobs in the world, where to earn a living means
putting your liIe at risk, and Beijing is pushing the industry to clean up its act. There are about
25,000 mines, including those that are privately owned. About 1,250 mines were closed this year
as part oI the saIety campaign.

Reaction
Manmade or technological disasters are unpredictable, can spread across geographical
boundaries, may be unpreventable, and may have limited physical damage but long-term eIIects.
Some disasters in this class are combined with natural disasters, such as this tragedy in China.
Other technological disasters occur because industrial sites are located in communities aIIected
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by natural disasters, equipment Iailures occur, or workers have inadequate training or Iatigue and
make errors.
China has one iI not the biggest industrial Iield in the whole world. The ministry oI land
and resources statistics shows that, the output oI diIIerent mostly minerals products showed a
great increase in 2011.

Over the past Iew years, the annual consumption oI mineral ores made the country one
oI the biggest mineral ore consumers in the world. This swelling in the mining industry leads to
the inIlux oI miners coming Irom the remote provinces oI the country. Though enough with
numbers, these miners lack the proper orientation and knowledge oI the risk oI the mining sites
where they work.
Ignorance oI the operating procedures and Iailure to Iollow work guidelines presents a
great risk and one mistake will turn everything into ashes. Fatal accidents happen because
mining sites, when blown, restrict the Ilow oI air, contaminates the air with dust and poisonous
substances, and crushes the workers inside. Without proper saIety protection suites and tools,
workers are very vulnerable inside the sites.
To prevent things like this to happen, the level oI risk such as susceptibility and
vulnerability should me taken to consideration beIore letting the workers work. Guidelines
should always be implemented up to the strictest sense.
Nurses would help trapped patient at the moment that they are Iished out oI the ruins.
Nurses must take note however that they should survey the site Iirst beIore throwing their selves
in the area oI disaster. Victims would mostly be suIIering oI hypoxemia secondary to
suIIocation, burn injuries, crush injuries, pneumonia, and dehydration. Some victims at time that
they are out oI the ruin are already dead, and nurses have the role oI preserving the victim`s
integrity and giving respect to their liIeless bodies. Nurses are also responsible Ior counseling
and consoling Iamily members.
At present, over 80 international mining enterprises are engaged in mineral prospecting
and exploitation in China. Disasters like this will still continue to happen iI people will pursue on
being careless and ignorant oI what really a disaster can do to a society.






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