Rescuers work at the site of Xingyu Colliery in Dengfeng, central China’s Henan Province. The death toll from a gas outburst at Xingyu Colliery Wednesday has risen to 12, local authorities said Friday [Xinhua]
The death toll from a gas explosion at a coal mine in China’s Henan Province Wednesday rose to 12 people, authorities told local media on Friday.
Yesterday, there had been five confirmed deaths and six people trapped underground; however, authorities found the bodies of seven trapped miners in the Xingyu Colliery in Dengfeng early Friday morning.
There was a total of 51 people on site at the time of the explosion, and only 39 of them managed to escape.
Chinese news agency Xinhua reports that the accident happened as workers in the Xingyu Colliery were trying to expand a pipeline.
This is the latest in a series of mining accidents in China; similar accidents left over 50 miners dead just last December.
Chinese authorities have lately been clamping down on small mining companies in a bid to route out illegal practices and upgrade safety precautions.
The BRICS Post with inputs from Agencies
Source