Three miners are dead and four others are missing following a
gas explosion in a coal mine in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province on Monday, the local
government said on Wednesday.
Rescuers had retrieved three dead bodies by 9 AM on Wednesday
and were continuing to search for the other four miners, according
to the emergency rescue headquarters in Jidong County, Jixi
City.
Local authorities are yet to identify the victims, a spokesman
said.
All the seven were trapped when a gas explosion occurred at 4:30
PM at the privately-owned Hongyuan mine in Jidong county. The
provincial coal mine safety watchdog confirmed 29 miners were
working in the pit and 22 were rescued.
Investigators said Hongyuan was a small mine designed to produce
60,000 tons of coal a year. It was allowed to resume production
only in April after a major safety overhaul starting from last
September.
(Xinhua News Agency May 16, 2007)