BEIJING (Reuters) - China, home to the world's deadliest mining industry, could be faced with a new wave of accidents as collieries start operations again following severe winter weather which forced many to close.
Build ups of deadly gases, flooding and unstable powersupplies could all cause problems, said the official China WorkSafety News, published by the State Administration of WorkSafety.
"Because of the effects of the weather, many coal mineslost power and had to shut. Others closed over the Lunar NewYear holiday, and small mines are starting to open again afterthe vacation, bringing huge pressures on safety," it said.
"The safety situation is much more serious than in previousyears."
In the southern provinces of Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou andYunnan, hard hit by recent snow and ice storms, almost 1,800mines had accumulated gas build ups due to power cuts, and afurther 600 mines had been flooded, the report said. "Powersupplies to coal mines in disaster hit provinces are not asnormal, leading to many hidden dangers," it added.
The work safety watchdog is stepping up inspections ofmines, especially those in the process of re-opening, to tryand nip potential problems in the bud, the report said.
Earlier this month nine people died in an explosion at acoal mine in northern China, as the government ordered scoresof pits to stay open to alleviate a national power shortagebrought on by the bad weather.
Accidents at Chinese mines cost about 3,700 lives lastyear.
China has the world's deadliest coal mining industry withfatal accidents almost on a daily basis as mine owners pushproduction beyond safety limits as profits soar.
(Reporting by Ben Blanchard)
