The first gas blast took place on Sunday in a coalmine in
Yongxing County, central China's
Hunan Province, leaving 11 miners trapped.
This explosion occurred at around 17:00 Sunday at Gaoping
Colliery at Xiangmei Village of Yongxing County, according to the
local government.
Due to the high levels of gas underground the rescuers have so
far been unable to enter the mine to conduct a search..
Gaoping Colliery, with an annual production capacity of 20,000
tons, is a county-owned coalmine. Provincial and county officials
are at the site to organize rescue work which is ongoing.
Meanwhile, twenty-five miners were trapped in a colliery gas
blast in north China's
Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in the early hours of Monday
according to the local government.
Altogether 33 miners were working in the pit when the blast
occurred at around 4:00 AM Monday at Rongsheng Colliery in
Jiudonggou Village of Otog Banner in the southwestern part of the
region, said an official with the regional public security
department.
By 10:00 AM, eight miners had been rescued but the whereabouts
of the other 25 remained unknown. Rescuers continue to search for
the missing miners.
(Xinhua News Agency March 13, 2006)