BEIJING, Jan 05, 2006 -- Kyodo

 

Coalmine accidents in China claimed the lives of 5,986 people last year, a slight decrease from the previous year's death toll, the government said in a report Thursday.

The State Administration of Work Safety Supervision reported 3,341 fatal coalmine accidents in 2005. The number of deaths declined 0.7 percent from 2004 and the number of accidents dropped 8.2 percent, the administration said in an annual safety report posted on its website.

Authorities took criminal action against 189 people over coalmine accidents last year, the administration said. One mine in Meizhou, Guangdong Province, was fined 79.67 million yuan (about $9.5 million) and closed for lack of an operating license, the report said.

Coal production increased in 2005 to 2.1 billion tons, 7.9 percent higher than 2004, the report said. China depends 70 percent on coal for basic energy needs.

Accidents began increasing markedly in 2000 along with an upswing in production, and the number of large-scale accidents has grown particularly over the past two years, said Patrick Poon, a researcher with the Hong Kong advocacy group China Labor Bulletin.

Coalmine accidents involving scores of people made headlines throughout 2005.

In February, a mine in Fuxin of Liaoning Province, northeastern China, killed 203 people. In November, 161 people died from a mine blast in Qitaihe of Heilongjiang Province, also in the northeast. Last month, an accident in Tangshan of Hebei Province, east of Beijing, killed 74 people.

"The main thing is that these large-scale accidents keep on happening, and they need a way to stop them," Poon said.

China Labor Watch has seen no progress in China's accident prevention. The group recommends that mine employees, who spot hazards while working underground, be given more authority to make safety decisions.

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