Vietnam smashes illegal coal mines

Vietnam smashes illegal coal mines

HANOI (Reuter): Authorities in Vietnam's northern province of Quang Ninh have destroyed 111 illegal coal mines and arrested 15 pit owners in the past two months, a provincial official said yesterday.

The People's Committee official was confirming a newspaper report which also said that only 26 out of 200 illegal coal mines in the province were considered safe enough for workers.

Fatal accidents are not uncommon at coal and other mines in Vietnam, where rag-tag armies of migrant workers often toil in harsh conditions for very little pay.

The government periodically launches blitzes on privately run coal mines, which it says are a threat to the environment and a competitive thorn in the side of the state-run Vietnam Coal Corporation.