Coal mine explosion in China leaves 35 dead

Tuesday 08th September, 02:13 PM JST

BEIJING —

A coal mine gas explosion in central China’s Henan Province early Tuesday left at least 35 people dead and 44 others trapped underground, the official Xinhua News Agency reported. The blast occurred around 1 a.m. in the city of Pingdingshan as 93 people were at work in the pit, the report said. Fourteen of them managed to escape immediately after the accident, it said.

The director of the State Administration of Work Safety, Luo Lin, has rushed to the site to oversee rescue operations and investigate the accident, Xinhua said. Ventilation in the mine shafts had mostly been restored by late morning, it said, and teams of rescue workers are still working on saving the trapped miners.

China’s coal mining industry claimed more than 1,000 lives in the first half of the year, according to figures released in July by the State Administration of Work Safety. Two major coal mine accidents alone claimed 108 fatalities in the January-June period.

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2 Comments

moonknightskye at 03:24 PM JST - 8th September

i hope they find the trapped workers asap
JasUK at 04:00 PM JST - 8th September

just another day in china and another accident. There are many illegal mines with poor safety dotted around China.