Hopes dim for 180 trapped miners in China

XINTAI, China (Reuters) - More than 180 trapped miners in China have slim hopes of survival as the shafts they were working in are almost completely filled with the raging waters from a broken levee.

Officials said on Sunday operations in other coal mines in Shangdong province had been halted as a precautionary measure, a move angry relatives said should have been taken days earlier, underlining the country's reputation as the world's deadliest coal industry.

"They don't look at miners as people," said a man surnamed Liu, whose 25 year-old brother was missing. "The company knew the levee was weak, but still did nothing to strengthen it."

Before thousands of soldiers and residents had sealed a 50-metre (160-foot) gash in the levee on Sunday using sacks of cement, trees and even trucks the water had almost completely filled the 860 metre (2,800 feet) deep mine, said officials.

"As of noon on the 18th the water had risen to within 20 metres of the mine opening," Zhang Dekuan, spokesman for Shangdong provincial government told reporters in Xintai.

Before rescue teams can enter the mine shafts belonging to the Huayuan Mining Corp., 10 million cubic metres of water must first be pumped out of the shafts.

But only two of the nine or 10 heavy pumps needed are installed and operating, said Zhang, who did not answer reporters' questions and did not say how long the pumping operation would take.

"This is a mining accident caused by a natural disaster," said Zhang, a comment many relatives were afraid officials would make to divert responsibility and lower the potential compensation paid out.

The mine went bankrupt 3-4 years ago when it was a state firm, but reorganized as Huayuan, a private company.

DEADLY OCCUPATION

China relies on coal to fuel rapid economic growth in the world's fourth-largest economy, pushing domestic coal prices to record levels and leading some operator to boost production beyond safe limits, despite Beijing's efforts to crack down on corruption and lax enforcement of standards.

China's coal industry is deadlier than any other country's, with about 2,163 coal miners killed in 1,320 accidents in the first seven months of the year.

"There was already water in the mines and they still ask them to work," said a woman waiting outside the Huayuan office for information about her brother and brother-in-law who were both working in the mine.

Chinese miners are lucky to make 1,500 yuan ($198) a month and many are farmers working the fields around coal mines who are attracted by the higher wages offered by the mines.

Officials had already acknowledged the dire situation of the miners.

"I'd guess that the miners down the shaft have no hope of survival," said the chief rescue officer, Zhu Wenyu, according to state media earlier on Sunday.

But even in a country that sees a numbing daily trail of mine deaths, the scale of this latest disaster stood out.

China's worst mine disaster was in 2005, when a gas explosion killed 214 miners in the country's northeast.

In past days, more than 200 mm (8 inches) of rain have fallen in Xintai, about 570 km (350 miles) southeast of Beijing.

Last year, 4,746 people were killed in thousands of blasts, floods and other mining accidents.

(Additional reporting by Chris Buckley in Beijing)