Hanoi - Three men died when they were buried under a rockslide while illegally mining coal in northern Vietnam, local media said Saturday. Tran Xuan Danh, Nguyen Van Ut and Nguyen Xuan Danh were gathering coal at an open pit in the northern province of Quang Ninh, 150 kilometres east of Hanoi, when a sudden cascade of rocks into the pit crushed them, according to the Vietnam News Agency.
The three had reportedly been hired by a local man, Luu Ngoc Hoi, to illegally exploit coal at several open pits in Quang Ninh province, Vietnam's largest coal mining area. Local police have arrested Hoi for interrogation.
So far this year, mining accidents have killed at least 24 people in Vietnam. Most of the accidents have happened in Quang Ninh, which has estimated coal reserves of 30 billion tons.
Vietnam's booming economy has ramped up demand for coal, both for domestic energy generation and exports.
Coal production has tripled in five years, with 39 million metric tons mined last year, compared to 13 million tons in 2001, according to Vietnam's General Statistics Office.
In 2006, coal exports jumped 66 per cent to roughly 30 million tons of coal, valued at 927 million dollars. Customers for Vietnam's coal include China, Japan and South Korea.
