BEIJING: Fifteen miners are confirmed dead and 18 missing after a coal mine explosion in southwest China Monday, state media reported, the latest mining disaster in the country.

More than 200 rescue workers including firefighters, armed police and mine experts are searching shafts at the Jinshangou mine in the town of Laisu in the Chongqing Municipality’s Yongchuan district, Xinhua news agency reported.

It said 35 miners were working underground when the gas explosion ripped through the mine in the morning and just two managed to escape.

All coal mines in the municipality have been ordered to stop production for safety checks following the blast at the privately-owned mine, which is licensed to produce 60,000 tons of coal a year.

China is the world’s largest coal producer and deadly accidents are common.

In September at least 18 people were killed after a mine explosion in the northwestern Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

In March 19 people died in a coal mine accident in the northern province of Shanxi.

Officials say the number dying annually in the country’s mines has fallen substantially in the past decade, to fewer than 1,000 a year.

But some rights groups argue the actual figures are significantly higher due to under-reporting. — AFP </s> Eleven dead, 25 trapped in explosion at iron-ore mine in NE China: CCTV

BEIJING: Eleven people were killed and nine injured Tuesday in an explosion at an iron-ore mine in northeast China´s Liaoning province, state media reported.

Twenty-five people are trapped in the mine run by China National Coal Group Co, according to state broadcaster CCTV.

The injured have been rushed to hospital and the municipal government of Benxi, where the accident occurred, has dispatched a rescue team, CCTV said.

Deadly mining accidents are common in China due to lack of safety precautions.

A gas leak killed at least 18 people working in a coal mine in central Hunan province in May last year.

Seventeen other coal miners were killed when a lift used to move workers fell down a shaft in northeastern Heilongjiang province in March 2017.

In December 2016, explosions in two separate coal mines in the Inner Mongolia region and in Heilongjiang killed at least 59 people.

Also in 2016, 33 miners were killed in a colliery explosion in October in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing, and in September at least 18 were killed in a mine blast in the northwestern Ningxia region. </s> In the first incident, authorities confirmed on Friday night that 21 people died after a coal mine blast in the northeastern province of Heilongjiang, the official Xinhua news agency said.

It happened at a private coal mine in Qitaihe city late on Tuesday, trapping 22 workers underground, it said. Rescue work continues to reach the one person left trapped.

On Saturday, 17 people died in a coal mine explosion in northern China's Inner Mongolia region, Xinhua added.

Many others remain trapped, it said, without giving details.

Coal accounts for almost two-thirds of China's energy consumption, but its mines are among the world's deadliest, due to lax enforcement of safety standards.

China has ordered all of the country's coal mines to conduct a safety overhaul in the past month, the deputy director of the country's work safety watchdog said on Friday.

A flurry of accidents have alarmed regulators over the past month as China ramps up coal production to meet winter demand. Thirty-three people died in a gas explosion at a coal mine in the southwestern city of Chongqing on Oct. 31. </s> BEIJING (AP) — A coal mine explosion in a northern Chinese region killed 17 people Saturday and left 10 others trapped, state media and officials said.

Four miners were rescued after the blast, which occurred when 31 people were working underground, said the Chifeng city government in China’s Inner Mongolia region.

China’s official Xinhua News Agency reported that 17 miners were killed in the blast. Rescuers were searching for the 10 remaining miners trapped by the explosion at a coal mine run by the Baoma Mining Co. Ltd., Xinhua said.

News of the blast came just hours after 21 Chinese miners who were trapped for four days after an explosion hit their unlicensed coal mine were confirmed dead in northeast China’s Heilongjiang province. Four people were arrested in connection with that disaster.

China’s mining industry has long been among the world’s deadliest, and top work safety regulators have acknowledged that some mines cut corners on safety standards due to financial pressure. </s> Coal mine collapses in northern China, killing at least 19

BEIJING (AP) — At least 19 miners were killed when a coal mine collapsed in northern China, the government said Sunday.

Rescuers were looking for two miners who still are missing following the disaster Saturday in the northern city of Shenmu in Shaanxi province, the city government said in a statement.

Another 66 miners were rescued, the statement said.

The number of fatalities reported in cave-ins, explosions and other disasters in Chinese coal mines has fallen sharply over the past decade but the industry still is the world's deadliest. </s> Twenty-one people have been killed after a roof collapsed at a coalmine in northern China.

A total of 87 people were working underground in the mine in Shaanxi province at the time of the accident at around 4:30pm on Saturday, the official news agency Xinhua reported.

It was initially reported that 19 miners had died and rescuers were searching for two remaining trapped miners. But the pair had been found dead on Sunday morning, Xinhua reported. Another 66 miners were safely evacuated from the mine in Shenmu city.

Related: Four killed in explosion in a coal mine in Balochistan’s Duki

The cause of the accident at the Lijiagou coal mine of the Baiji Mining Company is being investigated. </s> DISASTER: At least 19 coal miners have died after an accident in northern China (Pic: DS)

Two miners who were earlier trapped are now confirmed to have died.

Another 66 miners were rescued after the cave-in at a mine in Shenmu, Shaanxi province, the city government said in a statement.

87 miners were working underground when the roof collapsed at the Lijiagou coal mine at around 4.30pm local time.

The mine is owned by Baiji Mining Co.

China state media says an investigation into the accident has been launched. </s> Chinese state media say a coal mine explosion in a northern region has trapped 36 people, killing 17 of them.

The official Xinhua News Agency says 17 people have been confirmed dead after Saturday's explosion at a coal mine run by the Baoma Mining Co. Ltd. in Inner Mongolia.

Another state news agency, the China News Service, says 100 of the workers managed to escape when the midday blast occurred, but that around 36 others are believed to be trapped at the mine in the city of Chifeng.

Reports say the local government has launched search and rescue operations.

China's mining industry has long been among the world's deadliest. </s> Deadly coal-mining accidents are common in China, though the number of deaths has fallen substantially in the past decade, to fewer than 1,000 a year (AFP Photo/)

At least 59 people have been killed in two separate Chinese coal mine blasts, according to death tolls reported by state media.

An explosion Saturday at a colliery in the northern Inner Mongolia region killed 32, Xinhua news agency said.

A total of 181 people were working underground when the gas explosion struck the mine in the city of Chifeng, with 149 managing to escape.

In a separate incident, a blast occurred late Tuesday at a private mine in Qitaihe City, in northeast Heilongjiang province, trapping 22 workers, Xinhua said.

Twenty-one were confirmed dead Friday night, it said, citing provincial authorities.

Rescue efforts were hampered by debris from the blast in some of the tunnels, according to an earlier report.

China is the world's largest coal producer and deadly accidents are common.

A further 33 miners were killed in a colliery explosion on October 31 in the southwestern municipality of Chongqing, and in September at least 18 were killed in a mine blast in the northwestern Ningxia region.

Officials say the number dying annually in the country's mines has fallen substantially in the past decade, to fewer than 1,000 a year.

But some rights groups argue the actual figures are significantly higher due to under-reporting in a sector with poor oversight.
At least 17 are killed in a coal mine explosion in China.