At least 11 dead after gas explosion at NE China coal mine

At least 11 dead after gas explosion at NE China coal mine

2011-03-25 13:18:38 GMT+7 (ICT)

CHANGCHUN, CHINA (BNO NEWS) -- At least 11 miners were killed on early Thursday morning when a gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in northeast China, officials said on Friday. Two others remain missing.

The country's State Administration of Work Safety said the explosion happened at around 8.40 a.m. local time on Thursday at the Tonggou coal mine in Baishan, a city in Jilin Province. "A gas explosion in the coal mine caused 11 fatalities and two are missing," the agency said in a statement.

Few details about the incident were released, but the state-run Xinhua news agency said the blast also injured six people. It said a total of 39 miners were underground when the accident happened and most of them managed to escape.

A rescue operation to locate the two missing miners continued on Friday morning, although officials do not expect to find survivors.

Safety conditions at mines in China have significantly improved in recent years, but they remain among the world's most dangerous with around 2,600 fatalities in 2009 alone.

One of the worst mining accidents in China in recent years happened in November 2009 when 104 workers were killed after several explosions at a coal mine in Heilongjiang province.

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