Miscellaneous

Citation

(2003), "Miscellaneous", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 12 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/dpm.2003.07312cac.003

Miscellaneous

Miscellaneous

21 May 2002 – Collapse of coal mine, Xinjiang, China

Seven miners were killed and 16 injured, two of them seriously, when a coal mine collapsed in China's western region of Xinjiang yesterday. Regional government official Huang Xouli says all 56 miners working at the mine in the Changji Hui region of northern Xinjiang were brought to the surface after yesterday afternoon's accident. "Twenty-three were taken to hospital but seven died. Two of the injured were seriously hurt, but the injuries are not life-threatening," she said. The mine belongs to the Miquan Yuantong Coal Mining Company.

5 June 2002 – Collapse of dam, Syria

A dam has collapsed in central Syria, causing heavy casualties and widespread damage, the state-run SANA news agency has said. "Cracks appeared in the Zeyzoun dam, leading to a rush of water, then the collapse of the dam and a flood that inundated a large portion of the Alghab region, causing massive damage to a number of villages and their residents," it said. An Information Ministry official said the damage had been limited, and that villagers had been able to flee the low-lying area, where the dam was, to safety on higher ground. "There are very few casualties, maybe one or two as far as I know," Mounir Ali told CNN television, adding that three villages were flooded. The dam was located north of the city of Hama. An Irrigation Ministry official said the dam had had a capacity of 71 million cubic metres of water, of which 67 million cubic metres flooded out when the dam burst. Regional government officials said they had lost telephone contact with the area where the dam burst and could only speculate at the amount of damage. "All of the lines from there are down. We still do not know how big it was, what the casualties might be," said one official, speaking by telephone from Hama.

22 June 2002 – Suspension of mining operations, Tanzania

The Tanzanian Government has suspended all mining in the north of the country after up to 42 miners died following the failure of a fresh air pump. The disaster happened on Thursday (20 June) at Mererani, near Mount Kilimanjaro – the only place in the world where the gemstone tanzanite is found. Daniel ole Njoolay, the regional commissioner for Arusha, said there would be no more mining in the area until all the bodies had been recovered. A total of 14 have been retrieved so far. The victims are about 125 metres underground and about 300 metres along a horizontal tunnel. Mining officials said 32 miners were registered to work in the mine when the pump failed, but another ten miners were believed to have died in an initial rescue attempt. Correspondents say tanzanite mines are relatively primitive and lack proper safety equipment. They say miners are usually young men who often remain underground while carrying out blasting. They use oxygen pumps fitted with long hoses to pump air down into the mines. The mines amount to little more than holes hundreds of metres deep and are notoriously dangerous. The Mererani district is rich in deposits of tanzanite – a gemstone with a generally violet-blue hue, which earns Tanzania about $8m annually on the world market.

7 July 2002 – Collapse of coal mine, D Shaanxi Province, China

At least six Chinese coal miners were killed in a northern Shaanxi province when the mine they were working in collapsed, mine officials said today. The accident occurred yesterday morning at the Huoshan coal mine in Bin county when 14 workers were in the mine, an official, named Ruan, at the county coal mine administration bureau said. According to the local Huashang Daily seven miners died in the collapse. "Three miners were killed in the mine, while three others died after they were taken to hospital," Ruan said.

8 July 2002 – Chemical spillage, factory, Shandong Province, China

Liquid ammonia has spilled from a burst pipe at a fertilizer plant in eastern China, killing 13 people and injuring 11, officials and state media have said. The accident happened at about 0200 hrs, today in a workshop at the Shenxian County Fertilizer Company in Shandong province, the official Xinhua news agency reported. One person died at the scene and others died after being taken to a nearby hospital. Police and fire brigade officers evacuated at least 48 people from the factory as part of an "all-out rescue effort", it added, saying an investigation into the accident had begun. It was not clear how many people were at work at the time, said an official from the provincial Work Safety Supervision Administration.

19 July 2002 – Collapse of bridge, Hubei Province, China

Nine people were killed and seven injured when a bridge, in central China's Hubei province, collapsed suddenly, officials said today. The victims died yesterday night when the 200-foot bridge in Xiliuhe township gave way, causing them to plunge into a river, a township official said. In all, 30 people from two villages were standing on the bridge at the time, trying to cool off in the breeze, the Chutian Dushi reported. In total 17 people fell into the river, with seven suffering injuries in addition to those killed. The bridge was more than 30 years old, the report said.

24 July 2002 – Collapse of mine, Somerset, County, Pennsylvania, USA

At least ten coal miners were feared trapped in a mine that collapsed and flooded in western Pennsylvania, authorities said. Officials said the cave-in and flood happened around 2200 hrs, today at a mine operated by the Quecreek Mining Co., about 55 miles southeast of Pittsburgh. Witnesses said a ten-man crew was working in the mine, and all are feared trapped, Somerset County emergency dispatcher Alan Baumgardner said. Baumgardner said rescue efforts were hampered because the mine was flooded.

25 July 2002 – Encouraged by a tinny tapping sound coming up from the depths, rescuers drilled an escape hole today in a race to save nine coal miners trapped 240 feet underground in a shaft filling up with millions of gallons of frigid water. After about 1.5 hours, crews had bored 45 feet toward the four-foot-high chamber where the men were believed trapped. Rescuers hoped to use the two-foot-wide shaft to pull survivors out of the mine 55 miles south-east of Pittsburgh. Rescuers were also pumping air into the tiny chamber through a much smaller hole, hoping it would buy them enough time to save the miners who have been trapped since 2100 hrs, yesterday. The miners were trapped after apparently breaching the wall of a flooded and abandoned mine next to them, releasing more than 50 million gallons of water into the shaft where they were working. The miners believed the old mine was still some 300 feet away, but their maps were incorrect, officials said. It was unknown how high the water was in the shaft, but officials said cold water was rushing past them as they huddled in the dark. Between the water and an air temperature of no more than 60 degrees, rescuers feared the men could suffer hypothermia before they were rescued. Rescue crews lost contact with the miners soon after the accident but heard tapping early today on a six-inch metal drill they were using to bore the lone air hole. Other holes were drilled to pump out water, slowing but not stopping its rise. Crews last heard tapping around noon. Rescuers hoped to create an air bubble around the men that would keep them alive and stave off the rising water. Joseph Sbaffoni of the state Bureau of Deep Mine Safety said the miners apparently dashed into an air pocket about 200 feet from where the wall of the abandoned mine was breached, water rushing past them as they did. Another crew of miners – warned by radio by the men who were trapped – managed to wade to safety in water up to their necks. Sbaffoni said the first contact with the trapped survivors came at about 0300 hrs. Later, with rescue machinery making too much noise for workers to hear if the miners were still tapping on the air line, officials placed seismic devices to pick up noise underground. The signals were still coming this afternoon.

28 July 2002 – All nine Pennsylvania miners trapped for three days in a flooded underground chamber in cramped and extremely cold conditions have been found alive, state officials said. "All nine are alive," Pennsylvania Governor Mark Schweiker told a news conference. "We believe that all nine are in pretty good shape," he added. After being thwarted in numerous attempts, rescuers succeeded late Saturday in drilling a six-inch hole through a layer of rock to reach the miners, who have been trapped in the Quecreek Mine since late Wednesday, when water began flooding in from an adjacent abandoned mine. Officials learned that the nine had survived the ordeal after rescuers lowered a two-way radio into the hole and spoke with the trapped mine workers.

28 July 2002 – All nine miners trapped underground in a Pennsylvania coal mine for three days have been brought safely to the surface by rescue workers. The men were lifted out of the mine to scenes of jubilation from rescuers and crowds gathered at the scene, about 55 miles south-east of Pittsburgh. They are being flown by helicopter to a local hospital. Rescue workers, who had drilled for three days to get to the men, finally penetrated the chamber where the men had been trapped in an air pocket at 2220, EDT, yesterday. A telephone wire was dropped through a small air pipe to listen for sounds, then a rescue worker heard the voices of the men who told him all nine were safe and well. All nine men are said to be in a good condition but doctors were at the scene after fears the men could be struck down by hypothermia after being trapped in freezing conditions for so long. A US Navy decompression chamber is also at the scene. Emergency teams dug two escape shafts down towards where the men were trapped. They began digging a back-up shaft after a huge drill bit jammed in the first shaft, but work on the second shaft was also beset by mechanical problems. The drill bit was eventually dislodged, but it delayed the rescue operation by several crucial hours. Emergency workers had also pumped compressed air into the chamber in the hope of enabling any survivors to breathe.

30 July 2002 – It could be months before Pennsylvania's flooded Quecreek Mine is back in operation, and rescue and clean-up costs could reach $7 million, mine officials said today. Dave Rebuck, president of Black Wolf Coal Co., which operates the mine, told reporters near the mine entrance that it will take a couple of weeks to pump all of the water out of Quecreek. After that, he said, it will take more time for state and federal officials to investigate the site and do wide-ranging reviews of the incident. The total cost of the rescue and clean-up operation could range from $2 million to $7 million, said Timothy Phillips, marketing director for PBS Coals. The firm leases the Quecreek coal rights and hired Black Wolf Mining Co. to do the mining. Though the mine will be closed for weeks, he said, there are no plans for layoffs.

10 August 2002 – Collapse of coal mine, Henan Province, China

Eight miners are missing in the central Chinese province of Henan after a coal shaft they were working in filled with water and trapped them underground, the official Xinhua news agency said today. Xinhua quoted local sources as saying 21 workers had been rescued from the coal mine after hundreds of tonnes of water from underground rushed into the mine yesterday morning. Rescuers drilled into the tunnel where the 29 were trapped, Xinhua said.

17 August 2002 – Collapse of bridge, Neixiang, China

A bridge under construction in central China crumbled as scaffolding was being removed from beneath it, killing ten workers, the official Xinhua News Agency reported today. Four people have been detained as part of an investigation into the cause of the collapse Thursday (15 August) afternoon in Neixiang, a county in Henan province, Xinhua said. Two of the 46-metre bridge's five arches fell to pieces, throwing a dozen people to the ground, Xinhua said. It wasn't clear from the report whether the scaffolding being removed had been supporting the arches. Local government officials and police contacted by phone said they were unclear about the accident or refused comment.

26 August 2002 – Collapse of building, Jebel Ali, United Arab Emirates

At least eight construction workers were killed and 19 others were injured when the roof of a building under construction at the site of the Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (DEWA)'s "K station" in Jebel Ali caved in yesterday morning. The search was on last night for five missing workers believed to be buried under the weight of heavy steel frames while five of the injured were in critical condition, Khaleej Times reported. The construction site was a DEWA power plant in the phase two of the "K station" near Jebel Ali's Dubal plant. Ambulances were rushed to the site of the accident to evacuate the wounded while police and civil defence personnel and paramedics launched an intensive search-and-rescue operation. Authorities have set up a high-level committee to investigate the cause of the incident in collaboration with construction and contracting firms and relevant departments.

15 September 2002 – Landslide in Xianfeng County, China

A wave of rock and mud buried 22 people who were clearing a road in central China, a local official and state-run media said today. A total of 12 bodies have been pulled from the debris so far, and rescuers were searching for another ten people, said an official with the Xianfeng county government. "It's hard to say whether anyone could still be alive underneath," the official said. Another 15 people escaped Thursday's (12 September) landslide unhurt, he said. The official Xinhua News Agency said the landslide was 330 feet across and swept down a 400-foot cliff without warning. Xianfeng lies in a mountainous corner of Hubei province, about 770 miles southwest of Beijing.

21 September 2002 – Avalanche, north Ossetia, Russia

A 500-foot-high chunk of glacier crashed down a Caucasus mountainside, burying a village in ice, rocks and mud and leaving as many as 100 people missing and feared dead today. Part of the village of Nizhny Karmadon was destroyed, a government spokeswoman in Moscow said. The village, home to about 50 people, was almost entirely covered in ice, leaving little chance of finding anyone alive there, an emergency official at the scene said. At least 86 people were missing, said Lt Gen. Ivan Teterin, the Emergency Situation Ministry official heading the search, including 17 people whose houses were destroyed in the village of Nizhny Karmadon, six of them children. The missing also included hikers and 40 people with the crew led by actor- director Sergei Bodrov Jr, said Marina Ryklina, a ministry spokeswoman in Moscow. She said officials suspected the total number of missing was about 100. The avalanche raged down the Karmadon Gorge in the Russian republic of North Ossetia late yesterday after a glacier 495 feet tall broke off from below a peak in the rugged Caucasus Mountains, gathering a mix of mud, rocks and uprooted tree trunks its path. Moving at more than 62 mph, the avalanche slid 20 miles before it stopped on the Gizel-Karmadon highway about 6 miles from the regional capital of Vladikavkaz. Seen from the road, the path of destruction was about 300-400 yards wide. Eight houses and a three-storey sanatorium in the village were destroyed, but it was unclear whether anyone was in the sanatorium at the time. Murat Batayev, head of the rescue service of the nearby republic of Ingushetia, said in the late morning that 25 people had been rescued.

24 September 2002 – Rescuers searching for survivors of the devastating avalanche that hit Russia's mountainous republic of north Ossetia have found one man alive, but hopes are fading for more than 100 people still missing. The avalanche is believed to have killed up to 140 people when it struck in the early hours of Saturday (21 September), burying a huge area in tonnes of ice, rock and mud, up to 40 metres thick in some places. It was caused when a massive piece of a glacier broke off in the Koban Gorge, sweeping away everything in its path.