BEIJING: An explosion at a coal mine in northeast China early Saturday killed 31 workers and left 82 trapped, state-run China television said, the latest deadly incident to hit the industry. The blast happened at 2:30 am (1830 GMT Friday) at a mine in Heilongjiang province, according to a statement issued by the State Administration of Work Safety. A total of 528 miners were working in the pit, near Hegang City, when the blast occurred, the state administration said. The previous toll given by TV channel was 15 dead and 114 trapped. The mine is owned by the Heilongjiang Longmay Mining Holding Group, based in provincial capital Harbin. State-run news agency said vice premier Zhang Dejiang was going to the scene of the incident to direct rescue operations. President Hu Jintao and Premier Wen Jiabao had given instructions on the rescue work. According to the company's website, in 2009 it was ranked 12th out of the top 100 Chinese mining companies and seventh in terms of production volume, without giving further details. China has a dismal work safety record, with thousands of people dying every year in mines, factories and on construction sites. Its coalmines are among the most dangerous in the world, with safety standards often ignored in the quest for profits and the drive to meet surging demand for coal -- the source of about 70 percent of China's energy. In October four owners of an illegal colliery in Guizhou province in the southwest went on the run after 14 workers died when a mine collapsed. The four were later caught by authorities.And an explosion at a mine in central Henan province in September left more than 50 people dead. The work safety administration said mine shafts had been destroyed after a gas explosion at the pit in the city of Pingdingshan. Official figures show that more than 3,200 workers died in collieries last year, but independent labour groups say the actual figure could be much higher, as many accidents are covered up in order to avoid costly mine shutdowns. Due to the country's heavy use of coal to power its fast-paced economic growth, it has become one of the two biggest emitters of greenhouse gases alongside the United States.
BAGHDAD: Nearly 500 U.S. Army combat engineers who specialize in clearing roads of explosives started shifting to southern Afghanistan."We are probably going to be the beginning of the influx you are going to see to Afghanistan," Lt. Col. Kevin Landers, commander of the Fort Carson, Colo.-based 4th Engineer Battalion, said as crews packed crates and cleaned vehicles for the flight to Kandahar.Obama has ordered 17,000 more U.S. soldiers and Marines to Afghanistan to bolster the 38,000 American troops already battling the resurgent Taliban."We are going to take this footprint out of Iraq," said Landers, whose battalion received word of its reassignment last month just after taking command of clearing roads in Baghdad of bombs and debris.
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