China mine blast leaves 27 dead
BEIJING (AP) - June 13, 2008 Miners were trapped when explosives went off accidentally Friday
deep in the pit of the mine located on the outskirts of Xiaoyi city
in the northern province of Shanxi, the official Xinhua News Agency
reported.
Fifteen workers made it to the surface following the blast,
which ripped through the mine's main shaft shortly after 1 p.m.
Another nine miners were rescued Friday evening.
The bodies of the 27 killed were pulled out around dawn
Saturday. More than 100 rescuers from three local mine disaster
relief teams were continuing to search for the seven trapped
miners.
China's mining industry is notoriously unsafe, although Xinhua
said the mine, operated by the Anxin Coal Mining Corp., had passed
a recent safety inspection.
Nearly 3,800 miners died in China last year, an average of about
10 a day, making the country's mining industry the most dangerous
in the world.
