LEAD: 34 dead, several trapped in separate Chinese mining accidents

Nov 13, 2011, 12:50 GMT

Beijing - Thirty-four miners died, while nine were trapped, and feared dead, after a gas leak in an illegal mine in the south west of China, Xinhua news agency reported Sunday.

Rescuers said the chances of survival for the nine miners from the gas leak, which happened on Thursday, were slim.

The managers of the illegal mine, in Sizhuang, in the south-western province of Yunnan, had been arrested. The plant had been told to shut in April, and supervisors have promised a thorough investigation.

In a separate accident, seven miners were trapped underground after a coal shaft flooded early Sunday in north-west China's Gansu province, local officials said.

The accidents came in the wake of the State Labour Protection Agency in Beijing ordering a tightening of safety standards at all mines in the country.

Vice Premier Zhang Dejiang told an industry workshop in the eastern city of Hefei that China's coal mines still face 'a grim situation.'

'The latest accidents ring the alarm, warning us that accident prevention is a complex, difficult and urgent task,' said Zhang.

He also urged researchers to develop new technologies, such as methane capture, and advanced equipment to reduce accidents.

Latest official data shows that more than 2,600 people died in mining accidents in 2009, Xinhua said.

The families of miners killed in industrial accidents in China are entitled to 660,000 yuan (75,000 euros).