Having not heard anything from the mine authorities for four days, the families stormed into the Huayan mine office building in Xintai and damaged the furniture in their anger.

The Chinese news agency Xinhua has since reported that four working groups have now been formed to deal with compensation issues and looking after the families. According to further agency reports, the families have been persuaded to stay at home with a combination of carrot-and-stick tactics.

Furthermore, it has become clear that there were a series of flood warnings before the accident occurred. On Sunday, the state mine authorities warned of the danger in a meeting with regional mine directors around Xintai.

At least two mines ceased production on Friday morning. So the claim that the accident was caused by a natural disaster and not by human error is on shaky ground.

Burst dam

On Friday afternoon, a dam on the river Wen burst because of heavy rains, and torrents of water flooded into two mines near Xintai, trapping 181 miners in total. Almost six hundred minors were able to escape.

The region's inhabitants complain that the dam was not kept in good condition. ""If the dam had been looked after and strengthened in time this would not have happened," one man complained. "Officials are supposed to carry out their duty. But they didn't do it. Although of course there can always be natural disasters."

On Sunday, the draining of the mine shafts was able to begin, after the 50-metre-long leak in the dam was closed. But although the neighbouring province has provided special equipment, officials say it could last weeks or months until all the water is pumped out, as the shafts are almost nine hundred metres deep.

Mud and sand

On top of that, the rescue operations are being hampered, said one official: "The next step is to pump out the water. But we're expecting further problems. Sand and mud also got into the mine because of the water."

The energy demands created by China's economic boom have caused the price of coal to explode. This is why there are several illegal mines being exploited alongside the official mines.

And even in the official mines, production capacity is often exceeded in order to meet demand and managers are accused of flouting safety rules meant to protect the lives of the miners. As a result, China's mines count among the world's most dangerous with an average of thirteen miners dying daily in fires, floods and other disasters.