Twenty-nine miners were confirmed dead with only one still missing in a flooded coal mine in Jiaohe City, northeast China's Jilin Province, the rescue headquarters said Thursday.
From Wednesday to Thursday, the rescue team spotted in the mine's shaft six more bodies, which were all lifted out of the tunnel.
The local government has begun to deal with the post-accident matters. At least 28 families have signed contracts with Jiaohe's Tengda Mine for compensation. Each family received a compensation of 200,000 yuan (approximately US$24,100) from the mine owner and a related insurance company.
On April 24, the Tengda Coal Mine, a licensed township mine, was inundated, and 69 workers were trapped in the shaft. Thirty-nine of them were rescued the next day thanks to emergency rescue efforts.
The Tengda Coal Mine has 200 miners, with a production capacity of 60,000 tons of coal per year.
(Xinhua News Agency May 5, 2005)
