Coal mines in Shanxi Province closed for safety checks
( 2003-08-21 11:45) (Xinhua)
The Shanxi provincial government has ordered all coal mines in the province
to close for one week for safety checks following three major accidents in the
past week or so.
According to a government emergency circular, all the coal mines, except for
four large state-owned ones, shall stop operations beginning Tuesday for one
week, during which all employees, including officials, of the mines, will
receive safety training. Those who fail to attend the training program will be
demoted or dismissed.
Besides, all the 902 coal mines with high gas density will have to build gas
monitoring systems in the week. Those fail to do so will not be allowed to
reopen.
The provincial government also plans to close permanently a batch of small
coal mines, and take strict measures against illegal mining activities.
The three serious coal gas explosions between Aug. 11 and 18 have left nearly
100 dead.
Liu Zhenhua, governor of the north China province, attributed the accidents
to poor attention to safety procedures from administration to production.
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