8 detained over coal mine fire in east China
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Xinhua, July 23, 2011
Police have detained eight people in east China's Shandong Province in connection with a coal mine fire that has trapped 28 miners for more than two weeks, local authorities said Saturday.
A total of 91 people were working underground in the Fangbei Coal Mine in the province's city of Zaozhuang on July 6 when an air compression device located in a parking lot 255 meters underground caught fire. Sixty-three people managed to escape, while the other 28 remain trapped.
Efforts to rescue the miners are still underway, with more than 1,000 rescue workers mobilized, although there has been no confirmation from local authorities on whether the trapped workers are still alive. High temperatures and dense concentrations of carbon monoxide have impeded the efforts, rescuers said.
The eight people detained included Wang Shaoping, the head of the mine, and Guo Chuanzeng, a deputy head of the mine, a spokesman for the local rescue headquarters said Saturday.
The licensed mine was partially renovated in June 2010 to expand its production capacity. The renovation work was approved in October of the same year.
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