| Sports |
By
NICK BRYANT
Miners’ families angry over disaster
BEIJING: As hopes fade for the
survival of 181 miners in one of China’s worst mining disasters
in recent times, families tell the BBC of their anger at the
local government’s claim it was simply a natural disaster.
“It’s 100% the management’s fault,” Xia Qingyin, whose brother
Xia Qingbao is one of those still trapped underground in the
mine disaster in eastern Shandong province, said.
Their mother is currently in hospital. Xia Qingyin said she
collapsed with shock when local mine officials told her that her
son was unlikely to come back alive.
Dozens of elderly mothers and wives are now recovering in the
mine hospital, in Xintai city, 450km south of Beijing.
Rescue workers have been trying to release the trapped miners
since last Friday.
The men were working in two mine shafts when torrential rain
caused a river to burst its banks, sending water flooding in.
There is now little hope of finding anyone alive.
The company has sent teams to comfort the relatives and offer
each of the trapped miners’ families an initial payment of 2,000
yuan (K800).
But it has also attempted to stop journalists getting access to
the families, some of whom have openly voiced their anger, not
only about the accident but about the lack of information they
have been given on the fate of their loved ones.
“Officials just asked us to wait, and told us they are pumping
the water out,” Yin Chuanzhi, the elder sister of trapped miner
Yin Chuanshuang, said.
Her mother had a stroke when she heard about the accident.
Another family member is also trapped in the flooded mine.
“We don’t know anything. The officials in charge were all away
when we demanded information,” Yin Chuanzhi said as she fought
back tears.
Local government press officer Fan Baopin said that there was no
basis for “blaming human factors for the disaster”.
“The rain was unprecedented,” he said. “Within a few hours, the
river beside the mine rose 5m to 6m.
“Unless you could have asked God to stop the rain, I don’t think
we could have avoided the tragedy.”
But relatives said the mine owners should have recognised the
potential danger.
One trapped miner’s brother, who did not want to give his name,
said managers “only care about the output of coal, not the life
of miners”.
Outraged relatives stormed into the offices of the Huayuan
Mining Company on Monday, and smashed furniture in their anger,
saying they had not been kept informed about the progress of the
rescue operation.
Following the incident, riot police arrived to stop anyone not
involved in the rescue operation from entering the mine.
China has one of the worst mine safety records in the world.
The government acknowledges that about 5,000 people die every
year in accidents, but some independent groups put the figure at
closer to 20,000.
As the relatives of the Huayuan mining disaster wait for news,
rescue workers are still pumping water out of the mine.
However, experts quoted by China’s state news agency Xinhua
admitted that there was little hope for the miners.
They estimate it will take about 100 days to drain the water out
of the mine at the current rate of progress. – BBC
 
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