Miners ordered back into pit before fatal blast

China's notoriously unsafe mines have already claimed over 3,000 lives this year

BEIJING, China (CNN) -- The tragic death of 39 workers at a coal mine in Jilin province could have been averted if the miners had not been ordered back into the pit the night before the fatal gas explosion.

The official Xinhua News Agency reported Wednesday that safety officials visited the privately-owned Fuqiang coal mine in the northeastern province the day before the blast, shutting down operations and forcing all miners working underground to leave the pit.

But the owner resumed operations that same night, ordering the miners back into the pit, Xinhua quoted Jilin deputy governor Li Jieche as saying.

Only two bodies have since been recovered from the mine shaft and it is presumed the other 37 miners who were trapped underground at the time of the blast are dead.

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A week before the blast, the mine had been told to close because of safety problems, but it ignored the directive, Jilin governor Hong Hu told investigators.

The mine's owner, Chen Xiaoguo, who disappeared after the accident, surrendered to police only after family members pushed him to turn himself in.

A major reason behind the profusion of ill-equipped mines, says the State Bureau of Safe Production, is "local protectionism."

Provincial and county authorities are reluctant to strictly enforce safety regulations because the mines make significant contributions to local income and employment.

Meanwhile, an investigation began Wednesday into a separate incident in which 44 miners died in a gas explosion in a mine in Heilongjian province. The Dingsheng mine had also been told to close for safety reasons before the accident occurred.

Safety officials have completed a preliminary probe on the ground and are preparing to go down the shaft for further in-depth investigations, state media said.

All 44 bodies found in the mine had been identified.

In June, a mine in Heilongjiang where an explosion killed 115 workers ignored at least seven orders to shut down before the accident.

Following the two explosions, officials in Heilongjiang ordered all small coal mines in the province to immediately stop production and improve their safety precautions.

Local officials and heads of these institutions would be held responsible for any accidents and cheating in reporting accidents, said an urgent circular issued by the provincial government.

China's notoriously unsafe mines have already claimed over 3,000 lives this year, despite authorities repeated promises that they would crackdown on substandard mines.