Chinese mine disaster claims 152 lives

Beijing: At least 152 miners were killed and 15 still missing in two separate coal mine accidents in China, official reports said on Monday.

Altogether 221 miners were working underground when the blast occurred on Sunday at Dongfeng Coal Mine run by the Longmei Mining (Group) Co. Ltd. in Heilongjiang province.

The blast late on Sunday was the latest disaster to strike Heilongjiang, whose capital city, Harbin, was held hostage for five days by a toxic spill coursing through the Songhua river that provides its water supply, forcing a shut-down of tap water.

Li Yizhong, head of the country's top work safety watchdog, urged about 270 rescue workers to spare no effort to save the miners trapped at Dongfeng coal mine.

Investigators blamed the blast on coal-dust explosion, which knocked out all ventilation systems in the pit. The main system resumed operation on Monday.

The accident came about two weeks after an explosion at a chemical plant in nearby Jilin province poured 100 tonnes of cancer-causing benzene compounds into the Songhua river.

An 80 km (50 mile) slick passed through the Songhua River and out of Harbin at the weekend.

Making no mention of the toxic spill, President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao called last week for vigilance to prevent major accidents which cause huge casualties and property losses.

Hu and Wen urged law enforcement agencies to implement stricter inspection measures and punish those responsible in accordance with the law, state media said without elaborating.

Taps were turned back on in Harbin, home to nine million people, on Sunday and Heilongjiang provincial Governor Zhang Zuoji drank tap water to prove it was safe.

Officials have warned residents to be on the lookout for symptoms of benzene poisoning, which can cause anaemia, other blood disorders and kidney and liver damage.

Meanwhile, all the 18 miners trapped by a coal mine flooding in Wu'an City of north China's Hebei Province were confirmed dead, local officials said on Monady in Shijiazhuang, the provincial capital.