Vol. 71/No. 32      September 3, 2007

Of the 181 trapped miners, 172 work at the larger Huayuan mine. Miners there told the press that flooding has been a problem for several years.

“The workers from the day shift, most of whom managed to escape later, reported the rising water levels and submerged work areas to the management, but the company did nothing,” said Mr. Cao, brother-in-law of one of the trapped miners, according to the English-language China Daily.

Huayuan Mining Co. reportedly ignored several flood warnings from local safety officials earlier that day.

The mine was sold off by the state to private owners, and in 2003 the new bosses laid off nearly half the workforce, canceling their pensions and disability benefits.

Angry relatives of missing workers say Huayuan Mining has been silent and has not even provided a list of miners believed to be trapped underground.

About 200 family members brought down a fence and scuffled with security forces August 19 outside the mine, amid rumors that rescue operations had been abandoned, the online publication Aljazeera reported.

The following day, three relatives of miners and two others, armed with wooden sticks, smashed the windows of the company offices. They and five others then broke into the mine compound and staged a sit-down protest. The demonstration prompted the provincial vice governor to come out to the mine to give statements to family members and the press.

“Why does the whole world know what is going on, but we people right here don’t?” asked Zhang Chauntong, one of the protesters.

The company has reportedly told family members not to talk to the media. A wife of a missing miner, who asked not to be identified, told CNN that two company officials came to her apartment. They told her family “not to go out and not to talk to other people… . They did not give us any explanation. They just told us to stay at home,” she said.

More than 2,000 miners were killed on the job in China in the first seven months of this year—an average of 10 per day.  
 
 
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