According to state broadcaster CCTV, the death toll from the collapse of an open pit coal mine in northern China has grown to four, with 49 people still missing.
Work had been halted for several hours following a second landslide at the massive plant in the vast Inner Mongolia region’s Alxa League on Wednesday.
According to state media, the landslide occurred at 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, approximately five hours after a cave-in of one of the pit’s walls buried personnel and mining trucks below.
According to the official Xinhua News Agency, some 900 rescuers equipped with heavy equipment were on the scene and work had restarted by Thursday morning.
Chinese President Xi Jinping has demanded “all-out efforts in search and rescue” and for “ensuring the safety of people’s lives and property and maintaining overall social stability.”
Surveillance footage of the fall showed a large wall of debris tumbling down a slope onto pedestrians and vehicles below.
According to the news website The Paper, the mine’s operator, Inner Mongolia Xinjing Coal Industry Co. Ltd., was cited and fined last year for multiple safety violations ranging from insecure access routes to the mining surface to unsafe storage of volatile materials and a lack of training for its safety overseers.
Inner Mongolia is a significant territory for coal, mineral, and rare earth mining, which opponents argue has ruined the native landscape of mountains, green steppes, and deserts.
China relies heavily on coal for power generation, but it has attempted to limit the incidence of fatal mine accidents by emphasizing safety and closing smaller businesses that lacked sufficient equipment.
Most deaths are caused due to explosions in the mine
The majority of mining fatalities are attributable to explosions produced by methane and coal dust buildup, or drownings occurred when miners break into abandoned pits due to flooding.
In recent months, China has seen a rash of fatal industrial and construction accidents as a result of insufficient safety training and regulation, official corruption, and a proclivity for profiteering by firms. The economy has stalled, in part because of the now-abandoned “zero COVID” policy’s severe lockdowns and quarantines.
