13 injured in coal mine blast in China; 22 trapped

A gas explosion rocked a coal mine in southwest China injuring 13 workers who were working at the site, even as 22 miners remained trapped.

Beijing: A gas explosion rocked a coal mine in southwest China Monday injuring 13 workers who were working at the site, even as 22 miners remained trapped underground after three separate accidents that occurred in different mines
since the weekend.

The gas explosion at a coal mine in the southwest Anshun City took place when 40 miners were working underground.

The miners rushed out of the mine shaft after the violent ejection of coal and gas seriously injured eight miners and left another five with minor injuries.

All of the injured were hospitalised, state-run Xinhua reported.

While all the miners in this incident could be pulled out from the mine to safety, 22 other miners caught in three different accidents in northeast and east China are still trapped.

Eleven people were trapped after a fire broke out on Saturday morning in a coal mine in northeast China`s Heilongjiang Province.

The accident in Shuangyashan City was previously reported to have happened on Sunday as a result of the mine owner`s attempt to cover up, the news agency quoted officials as saying.

Local people reported the accident to the authorities a day later.

An initial investigation showed that a total of 13 people were working underground.

Two were lifted out after the accident.

The government said the county`s coal management bureau had ordered the mine to suspend production on Sept 3, after its license expired a day earlier.

Illegal production was being blamed for the accident, the government said.

The underground fire was put off on Sunday night, rescuers said.

On Saturday, another coal mine in Jidong County, also in Heilongjiang Province, was flooded, trapping six miners.

Five other miners were trapped after a ceiling collapsed at a coal mine in east China`s Shandong Province yesterday, the news agency report said.

PTI

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