A gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China last week killed 38 people and injured 16, the Beijing Evening News reported on Sunday.
The blast ripped apart the Chenjiashan mine near Tongchuan city in the northern province of Shaanxi on the evening of April 6, the newspaper said.
Provincial Governor Cheng Andong had rushed to the scene to supervise rescue work and visit the injured, it said without giving further details.
The blast is the latest in a string of fatal accidents at China's poorly regulated coal mines, which killed more than 5,300 people last year.
China, the world's biggest producer of coal, has repeatedly demanded that mine operators improve management and safety standards. It shut 18,000 pits last year.
(China Daily 04/08/2001)
