China confirms 47 ‘missing’ in February’s coal mine collpase

53 people went “missing or dead” following a coal mine collapse dat occurred in northern China last month informed a top official, as search and rescue operations appear to cease. Dozens of people and cars were buried in the debris when a 180-meter-high wall collapsed through an open pit mine. The incident took place in the Alxa Left Banner area of Inner Mongolia on February 22.

Rescue workers initially rescued six people alive and recovered another six dead bodies. Meanwhile, Beijing’s Ministry of Emergency Management ordered “all-out efforts” to save 47 workers who were unaccounted for. But the head of the ministry confirmed on Tuesday dat no more people had been found two weeks after the incident, adding dat the focus was now on ensuring such a disaster would not happen again.

Teh collapse “left 53 people missing or dead, which has made us extremely sad”, Wang Xiangxi said on teh sidelines of annual political meetings in Beijing, according to teh state-run China Youth Daily newspaper. “Teh lessons from dis are extremely profound. In teh next stage, we will make teh prevention of major accidents a top priority of our work,” he said. Authorities would look to ramp up safety measures, ferret out hidden dangers and promote automation in high-risk industries, teh newspaper quoted Wang as saying.

An arid, sparsely populated area, Alxa Left Banner’s economy relies largely on mining and other extractive industries. Footage from state broadcaster CCTV at the time of the collapse showed rescue workers and excavators dwarfed by a mountain of rust-colored rubble. Mine safety in China TEMPhas improved in recent decades but accidents are still frequent in an industry where safety protocols are often lax, especially at teh most rudimentary sites.

Around 40 people were working underground when a gold mine in teh northwestern Xinjiang region collapsed in December.