Chalk up another 17 dead miners.

You’d have to be pretty hard done by to want to work in a Chinese mine. I am almost certain that most people who are lucky enough to wear that particular mantle are either 1.) Desperate, or 2.) Completely unaware of just how dangerous it actually is.

In light of yet another mine blast in Central China, this time claiming 17 lives (and likely counting), I can only shake my head in complete dismay. While conditions have supposedly improved in the past few years, China’s mining industry is still without doubt, the most deadly in the world. In the past year alone, over 2600 miners lost their lives – and they’re only the ones lucky enough to be reported! With the Chinese government keeping a firm handle on all things reported, who can say how many lives were truly lost.

Another day, another Chinese mine disaster.

Bless me father for I have sinned, but please don’t let me come back as a Chinese miner. Yes there has been yet another mining related accident in China, this time in a mine near the city of Hegang in NorthEastern China. A gas blast has claimed the lives of 107 (so far) people, and the locals are not happy at all about it. It is the worst mining disaster since 123 people were killed in a mine in Southern Guangdong province when it flooded.

Thousands of people are reportedly killed each year in Chinese mines – and that’s only those lucky enough to be reported – it is possible the number of unreported deaths is expotentially larger again. While China continues to go through periods of massive resource-hungry growth, the emphasis put on obtaining those resources is heavy. If China is ever going to take its place in the world as a first world country power – if it ever wants to get up there on a level such as the United States, then things such as this simply must be brought to an end.