A total of 17 persons were killed by fire in a coal mine Thursday in northeast China's Heilongjiang Province.
Twenty-one people were working underground when the fire broke out at about 3:00 pm in the Yihe Jiacheng Coal Mine, Baoqing County, according to rescuers, who Magistrate Zhu Yuwen said rushed to the scene very soon.
The cause of the fire is under investigation.
The mine is privately owned and passed a check not long ago, said local officials.
(China Daily May 24, 2002)
