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Gas poisoned miners leave hospital in north China

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-03-13 22:30

HOHHOT -- All six miners poisoned by carbon monoxide in a colliery shaft Monday left hospital Friday, doctors said.

The six said they were feeling well and insisted on going home Friday, said Lu Sheng, a senior doctor taking care of the miners in the People's Hospital of Jungar Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

However, Lu said they may face brain problems, a possible consequence of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Six other miners were killed in the accident, which was blamed on safety violations, investigators said.

Related readings:  Six miners dead in colliery gas poisoning

The privately-owned Luxinju Coal Mine, although licensed, had been ordered to suspend production in December last year until safety requirements were met, but the owners of the mine resumed mining on March 1 without getting approval of the relative authorities, said Cao Anya, chief of the region's coal mine work safety watchdog.

The miners destroyed the sealing facility of an old shaft to speed up digging when no ventilation equipment was operating, leaving carbon monoxide to gush into the shaft, Cao said.

Cheng Hua, 47, one of the survivors, said he was transporting coal along with some other workers in the shaft at the time of the accident. His workmates fainted one by one and he was too weak to call for help.

Four people responsible for the tragedy had been taken into police custody.