10 workers killed in coal mine explosion in China

Beijing: At least ten miners were killed on Sunday in an underground gas explosion at a coal mine in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.

The explosion occurred in the morning at the Xingyun Colliery where the ten people were trapped underground, state-run Xinhua news agency.

Rescuers rushed to the blast site at Xingyun Colliery in Jidong County and retrieved the bodies. The cause of the accident is being investigated, the reports said.

The explosion comes at a time when Chinese judicial officials are investigating 31 officials for allegedly abusing power and taking bribes to cover-up three major coal mine accidents that killed 39 miners in the country.

These officials, including coal industry administrators, work safety watchdog staff and town government officials, allegedly committed crimes including abuse of power, dereliction of duty and accepting bribes, according to the Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP).

Hundreds of mine workers die in mine accidents every year in energy-hungry China.