Hazardous coal mine closed

KUCHING: The Kuching Fire and Rescue Department has ordered the temporary closure of a Sarawak coal mine since midnight on Saturday following an explosion in Silantek quarry in Pantu, Sri Aman.
Sri Aman Fire and Rescue Station chief, Ranger Moos said. the order was issued after the Hazmat (hazardous materials and items) team had identified the gas leakage and the type of gas in the tunnel.
"At 8.30pm last night, five members of the Hazmat team had entered deep into the tunnel and detected methane gas," he said today.
Following the discovery, Ranger said an order to temporarily close the mine was issued, after which there was no worker on duty to look after the water pump.
"The water pump is meant to remove water from the tunnel but when the water pump is not in operation, the tunnel will be filled with water which neutralises the tunnel," he said.
According to Bernama, the blast was believed to have been caused by sparks from a faulty fan which ignited a gas fire which caused the explosion in a 69-metre deep tunnel at the mine.
The mine, located about 3km from the Sri Aman main road, had been in operation for eight years with 119 foreign workers - North Koreans (46), Indonesians (19), Myanmar (29), Chinese (15) and Bangladeshi (10).
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Health has taken all proactive measures to ensure victims of the coal mine explosion are getting the necessary burn management treatments.
Director-General of Health, Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah, said 15 victims were treated in Sri Aman Hospital while 14 others, of whom 11 are in the intensive care unit at the Sarawak General Hospital.
Noor Hisham said that those in ICU are in critical but stable condition.
While seven are recuperating in a regular ward, one has been given outpatient treatment and sent home. Five others are admitted in two private hospitals.
In the incident which happened about 9am on Saturday, three foreign workers were killed and 26 others injured. The three dead were identified as Indonesian Kardianto, 38, Tun Tun Win, 36, from Myanmar and Pang Chung-hyok, 29 from North Korea.
The bodies, currently kept at the Sri Aman Hospital, will be transferred to the Sarawak General Hospital for post-mortem tomorrow.
Dr Noor Hisham said they have also flown in to the hospitals additional medical equipments, including 14 sets of breathing apparatus (ventilator) from Sabah and Selangor.