A fire broke out in a coal mine in northwest China today while another mine was hit by flooding, leaving 17 workers trapped underneath the ground.
The two accidents hit mines in energy-hungry China’s Heilongjiang Province.
A fire broke out in a mine in the Shuangyashan City today when 13 people were working inside.
While two were lifted out after the accident, 11 workers still remained trapped.
The government said the county’s coal management bureau had ordered the mine to suspend production on September 3, after its license expired a day earlier.
Illegal production was being blamed for the accident, the Government said.
Another incident yesterday saw flooding at a coal mine in Jidong County, also in Heilongjiang Province, trapping six miners.
Coal mine accidents in China are a common occurrence as mines work overtime to extract coal which continues to be a premium energy resource.