At least seven people were killed and one injured in a gas explosion at a coal mine in central China’s Hunan Province, government sources said today.
The accident occurred on Sunday evening at the Minxing Coal Mine in Zhonglian Township, Lengshuijiang city, when 15 miners were working underground.
Eight people including the injured had managed to escape. Rescue work ended today leaving the death toll at seven. The cause of the accident is being investigated.
The mine’s legal representative, who allegedly attempted to conceal the accident, is under police custody, a government spokesman said.
Minxing Coal Mine opened in 1994 and operates under a collective ownership with an annual productivity of 60,000 tonnes of coal.
Over the past two months, coal and gas blasts occurred in Yunnan, Sichuan, Heilongjiang and Xinjiang, have killed almost 46 workers.
Almost 94 per cent of coal mines in China are shaft mines that pose significant risks for gas safety management, Mr Wang Xianzheng, head of the China Coal Industry Association, had earlier said.