Vietnam's faltering economic reforms have yet to create a go-go economy but have wiped out safety nets such as free medical care and education. Nor are there opportunities for miners to vent their grievances. Here we would be arrested straight away. Working conditions in the mines, some of which are underground while the rest are massive pits up to 2 km deep, are stubbornly pre-modern. Rescue equipment is minimal, firefighting and first-aid support inadequate, ventilation neglected.
Accidents are common.
Last January, as Nguyen Manh Dien started his morning shift at Mao Khe, a buildup of natural methane triggered an explosion that tore through an underground shaft. Dien saw a flash and was thrown through the air. Coal still helps fuel the industry that Vietnam has managed to build, including coal-burning power stations, cement factories and an underdeveloped steel industry. Most of those plants are state-owned, as are all of the mines. The state-owned monopoly geared up production but demand dropped, as Japan, South Korea and China felt the effects of the Asian slump.