Deaths Reported in China Coal-Mine Explosion
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - At least 11 people have been killed in the second deadly coal-mine blast to hit China in two days.
State-owned Xinhua News Agency reported that 19 people were working in a mine in the southern province of Guizhou when an explosion hit a shaft early on Thursday. The condition of the eight survivors remains unclear.
Xinhua said the cause of the blast is under investigation.
The disaster at the Songlin mine in the Guizhou town of Songhe follows one on Wednesday morning in the northeastern province of Liaoning in which at least 24 miners were killed and dozens of others left with serious burns.
China's mines are the most dangerous in the world, although improved safety measures have considerably lowered death tolls in accidents.
Last year, China recorded 589 mining-related accidents, leaving 1,049 people dead or missing, according to the government. But both the number of accidents and fatalities were down more than 24 percent from 2012.
In June, 22 people were killed in an accident at a coal mine in the southwest city of Chongqing. And 20 people died in April when a coal mine in southwest Yunnan province suddenly flooded, leaving miners trapped.
