Yesterday, an explosion occurred in a coal mine in Siberia, a region of Russia, and the latest tolls speak about 100 deaths. It is the deadliest mining accident in Russia since the fall of communism.
According to the International Herald Tribune :
The death toll following a methane gas explosion on Monday in a Siberian coal mine rose to 104 today as rescue workers continued to search for survivors, according to Russian government officials and the official regional press service.
This sad event is for me the occasion to show how coal mining is dangerous. In 2006, 21 mining accidents happened in Russia, killing more than 80 people. Mining accidents killed 42 persons in the United States the same year, and China holds the record with more than 4,700 people in only one year. China’s figure represent 80 percent of coal mining related deaths worldwide.
Coal mining as we can see kill thousands every year. The coal mining activity also harms minors’ lungs. As it is stated by China Daily :
(…) about 600,000 miners to date are suffering from pneumoconiosis, a disease of the lungs caused by long-continued inhalation of dust. And the figure increases by 70,000 miners every year.
Still according to this source, coal mining is the deadliest job in this country.
As we can see, the sole extraction of coal kills thousands of people everyday. In the countries that are heavily relying on coal for their energy needs such as China the increase of energy needs put great stress on mining security. This situation will remain the same unless strong measures are taken.
Sources : Reuters | IHT | China Daily
