Work Safety Administration Finds Negligence and Faulty Equipment Caused Deadly Mine Disaster

May 25, 2005

A Chinese government investigation into the Sunjiawan mine disaster determined that careless maintenance and leaking gas caused the explosion, according to the Wall Street Journal. 214 miners died in the blast. The Deputy Director of the State Administration for Work Safety said that workers had failed to turn off the power during cable maintenance, in violation of safety rules. In addition, gas monitoring equipment was not working properly.

A Chinese government investigation into the Sunjiawan mine disaster determined that careless maintenance and leaking gas caused the explosion, according to the Wall Street Journal. 214 miners died in the blast. The Deputy Director of the State Administration for Work Safety said that workers had failed to turn off the power during cable maintenance, in violation of safety rules. In addition, gas monitoring equipment was not working properly.

The report apparently does not address a claim published in The Guardian that the miners were ordered to keep working even though they complained of residual fires and difficulty in breathing. One surviving miner told journalist Jonathan Watts that "We came up, but the bosses told us to go back. We all needed the money and there is a penalty of 100 yuan ($12) for refusing to go down." Watts' report confirms what has become a common expression in China: "Life is cheap, coal is expensive."