China Safety 2 - News conference on mine explosion, mine file
NAME: CHN SAFETY 211004Nx
TAPE: EF04/1036
IN_TIME: 10:18:28:02
DURATION: 00:02:41:13
SOURCES: APTN/CCTV
DATELINE: Beijing - 21 Oct 2004/File
RESTRICTIONS:
SHOTLIST
APTN
Beijing, China - 21 October 2004
1. Wide shot of spokesmen walking into news conference
2. Cutaway media
3. SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin) Sun Huashan, deputy administrator, the State Administration of Work Safety and the State Administration of Coal Mine
Safety:
"Last night, at around 22:47 (local time), a very big gas explosion took place in Daping coal mine in Zhengzhou, Henan province. 446 workers were working at that time. Now 298 workers have been rescued, but 148 are still missing."
File - 1995, Jiangxi province
4. Various shots of coal miners working
Beijing, China - 21 October 2004
5. SOUNDBITE: (Mandarin) Sun Huashan, deputy administrator, the State Administration of Work Safety and the State Administration of Coal Mine
Safety:
"This accident is the most serious one so far in this year. We have not found out the reason for the accident, but this accident exposed many problems in our works, such as the fundamental facilities of coal mine work are still very weak, many loopholes still exist in our management on work safety. The over production in the coal mines are a common thing due to the energy shortage in our country."
File - 1995, Jiangxi province
6. Various shots of coal miners going underground to work
CCTV
Beijing, China - 21 October 2004
7. News reader reporting on the gas explosion
8. Split screen of newsreader and reporter talking over graphic
9. Reporter talking over graphic
STORYLINE
A gas explosion in a coal mine killed at least 56 miners and left 92 missing in China's worst mining accident of the year, the government said on Thursday.
The explosion occurred at 2247 local time (1447 GMT) on Wednesday in the city of Xinmi in Henan province, southwest of Beijing.
Some 446 people were at work in the Daping Mine at the time of the explosion, and 298 escaped alive, said Sun Huashan, deputy administrator of the State Administration of Work Safety.
China's Xinhua News Agency said 56 miners were confirmed dead and rescuers were looking for 92 others.
The accident was China's most serious coal mine disaster this year, Sun said at a news conference.
The cause of the accident was under investigation, said an official reached by telephone at the Henan Province Coal Mine Safety Inspection Bureau. He refused to give his name.
China's coal mines are the world's deadliest, with thousands of deaths reported every year in explosions, underground floods and other accidents, often blamed on negligence or lack of safety equipment.
Fires, floods and other accidents in coal mines have killed 4,153 people since January, the government said on Thursday in a regular report on industrial safety.
It said that figure was down 13 per cent from the same period last year, due largely to a nationwide safety crackdown.