2011-01-07 13:51

XI'AN -- China's largest life-saving capsule, a mine refuge facility that can provide emergency shelter for 12 people for 120 hours, passed stability tests Thursday in Xi'an, capital of northwest China's Shaanxi province.

The mobile capsule is 6.96-meters long, 1.78-meters wide and 1.74-meters high. Xi'an-based Dongfeng Instrument Factory developed it.

If placed deep in an underground mine, it can provide oxygen, drinking water and food to miners seeking temporary safety, said Ma Jianhua, leader of the factory's rescue capsule project team.

"It can provide an emergency shelter for trapped miners. It can protect miners from further blasts and toxic gas. It allows more time for rescue. Miners can also use it to communicate and use its surveillance systems to guide rescuers down the shaft," said Ma.

The State Administration of Work Safety and the State Administration of Coal Mine Safety in August 2010 ordered all coal mines in China to build and improve underground emergency shelter systems by June 2013.

Coal mine accidents killed more than 2,000 people in China in 2009. Though fatalities then were significantly lower than the peak of nearly 7,000 in 2002, the situation remains grim.

This year, the country is targeting a decrease of mining accident fatalities of at least 10 percent.