Coal mine death toll expected to reach 151
By Fu Jing (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-11-30 05:58

The number of miners' lamps issued for the shift suggested that 221 had gone into the pit, compared with the official attendance roll of 254.

Relatives of the trapped miners wait in tears outside the mine after a blast accident occured at Dongfeng Coal Mine in northeast China's Heilongjiang province November 28, 2005.  [newsphoto]

Rescue headquarters refused to comment on the disparity, saying they believed that 221 was the correct figure.

The headquarters also said out of the 72 survivors, 47 were injured and being treated in the hospital.

But Jin Zhenlin, president of the Qitaihe Coal Bureau Hospital, confirmed with China Daily that 50 injured miners are accepting treatment at his hospital.

Li Yizhong, minister of the State Administration of Work Safety, pledged to spare no effort to punish those responsible for the accident.

Heilongjiang Governor Zhang Zuoji has ordered a campaign to check for any hidden danger at the worksite.

Miners see no light at the end of the tunnel

Children cry for their fathers. Wives await husbands. Parents long for sons. Workers brood silently about missing colleagues.

The number of missing has dwindled to a few. The death toll has climbed. And rescue work has all but ground to a halt, held back by the thick gas underground.

All, however, are still waiting, braving freezing temperatures for hours on end in this mountainous coal city, unwilling to face the inevitable reality: their loved ones will probably never return home.

"I believe a miracle will occur," says 23-year-old miner Yang Dayong. He clings to the hope that his father, two uncles and one brother-in-law are still alive somewhere in the labyrinth of tunnels hundreds of metres beneath his feet.