China safety body warns on mines

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China's mines could face a wave of accidents as collieries shut by the freezing weather resume operations, the country's top safety agency has warned.

Many mines lost power and had to close because of snow that hit much of China in January and early February.

They could face gas build-up, unstable power supply and flooding as they start up again, the State Administration of Work Safety said.

Mines are currently under pressure to increase coal supply to snow-hit areas.

Unusually severe blizzards hit large areas of central and southern China at the beginning of the year, blocking transport links and causing widespread chaos.

Power lines were broken, leaving millions without electricity, and problems were exacerbated by delays to vital deliveries of coal to power stations.

China's leaders urged miners to continue working over the Lunar New Year holiday in early February in order to meet soaring demand.

'Hidden dangers'

According to a statement posted on the website of the State Administration of Work Safety, more than 2,000 mines were facing problems.

Snow paralysed large swathes of the country in early February

Gas had built up in about 1,800 mines in the provinces of Jiangxi, Hunan, Guizhou and Yunnan because of power cuts, and another 600 mines had been flooded.

"Power supply to coal mines in disaster-hit provinces is not operating normally, leading to many hidden dangers," the agency said.

"The safety situation is much more serious than in previous years."

China's mines are among the most dangerous in the world, with more than 3,000 deaths reported each year.

The government has been working to crack down on illegal and unsafe mines - but demand from coal-fired power stations remains very high.

On Sunday, the government said that power had been restored to some 23 million people - or almost 90% of those who had been hit by blackouts during the winter weather.

Direct economic losses from the snow and ice amounted to $15.4bn (£7.7bn), Xinhua news agency said.

Problems were still being reported in some areas.

The southern province of Yunnan had been hit by fresh snow, with about 180,000 people stranded by blocked roads and rail links, the agency said.