NEWS: 16 dead, 7 missing in China mine blast, page 1

Sixteen miners have been killed and seven are still missing after an explosion occured in a shaft in north China. 29 miners were intially trapped, 6 have survived. 83 miners were working in the shaft at the time of the explosion, and 54 managed to escape, and six more were found alive after. This is the most recent of many mining accidents that have occured within China in recent months, the worst of which occured last month with a total of 214 miners being killed as a result of a gas explosion.

news.inq7.net
Sixteen coal miners were killed and seven are missing after a gas explosion tore through a shaft in north China, mining officials said Thursday.

The blast occurred Wednesday evening when 83 workers were in a pit at the mine in Jiaocheng county, Shanxi province.

The State Administration for Coal Mine Safety said at least 16 workers died.

"Sixteen miners died and seven are missing," it said on its website.

An official at the Shanxi Provincial Bureau for Workplace Safety confirmed the toll. He said 54 miners escaped the blast and six more have since been found alive.

"Originally 29 were trapped but six survived," he told Agence France-Presse.

An official at the Jiaocheng county government said the mine was in an isolated area with few phone lines, and did not know if it was state-run or an illegal operation.

China has been plagued by a spate of coal mine disasters in recent months, culminating in its worst mine tragedy in recent years when 214 workers were killed by a gas blast in northeastern Liaoning province last month.

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The Chinese mines do not seem to be a good place to work. There have been so many accidents, explosions and deaths recently. I hope they'll find more survivors.

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[edit on 9-3-2005 by parrhesia]