Chinese coal mining town mourns after latest deadly explosion

The death toll from Sunday's explosion rose to 161 late yesterday, with at least 10 miners and possibly 33 missing. Early reports said 221 were underground when the accident occurred, based on the number of miners' lamps handed out, but state media said the official attendance roll indicated 254 workers were on duty.

''There's nothing we can do about it," said Zhang's father, Zhang Yaowu, himself a former miner, surrounded by Xianzhe's mother, brothers, and sisters in their tiny, snug brick home. ''We need to work, and the work is dangerous. We need to get on with life."

It is a scene of grief that is repeated daily across China despite repeated official promises to stop fires, floods, and other disasters that kill more than 5,000 miners annually.

''Chinese coal miners are paying with their blood to support China's 8 percent annual economic growth. This is really too cruel and too heavy a price to pay," the Hong Kong-based group China Labor Bulletin said.

The rate of such huge-scale disasters is increasing, the group said. It said the past six years had seen seven of the nine mining accidents with death tolls exceeding 100 that have been reported since China's 1949 communist revolution.

The country's deadliest reported mine accident in six decades occurred in February, when 214 coal miners died in an explosion in the northern city of Fuxin. But most of the deaths occur one, two or a dozen at a time in small, often illegally run mines.

Many disasters are blamed on managers who ignore safety rules or fail to install required ventilation or fire control equipment, often in collusion with local officials.

The explosion Sunday in Qitaihe was blamed on coal dust that ignited, state media say. But there was no official word on whether misconduct or human error was suspected.

Zhang Xianzhe's brother, Xianchen, 33, said he learned about the disaster only after emerging from his shift underground at another mine.

''It's impossible to describe my feelings," Xianchen said.

Zhang's family was receiving condolences from visitors in a small room heated by a kang, the traditional brick sleeping platform used in north China with a burner of hot coals beneath it.

Even in their misery, Zhang's relatives -- like others in the town -- refrained from criticizing officials, possibly for fear of retaliation.

''This country is unfair," said one of Zhang's aunts. But others in the room told her not to say such things in front of a reporter.

The communist government is eager to assure the public of its concern, announcing one safety campaign after another while vowing to stem the carnage. But the death toll in China's mines is unchanged.

''This industry is too corrupt. Safety is no good," said Yuan Yongqing, 57, the brother of Yuan Yongcun, who also was killed in Sunday's explosion.