A gas explosion tore through a coal mine in northern China today, trapping as many as 170 miners in what could be the worst disaster to hit the world's most dangerous mining industry in years.
At least 123 miners escaped from the state-owned Chenjiashan Coalmine in Shaanxi province after this morning's explosion, the official Xinhua news agency said.
Earlier, up to 188 miners were believed to have been trapped, but the latest report from Xinhua and other state media revised that down to 170. Rescue workers had advanced several hundred metres into the mine but were blocked by heavy smoke, state media said. Doctors from nine hospitals were taking part in the rescue.
Some of the escaped miners had suffered carbon monoxide poisoning, Xinhua said.
An official contacted at the mine, near the city of Tongchuan about 740 km southwest of Beijing, said he had no information about the cause of the blast or casualties. Several other government officials declined to comment.
Today's blast occured two days after the Shaanxi government ordered tougher mine inspections and closure of any mines with insufficient or substandard ventilation.
China's coal mine industry, which provides the primary fuel for the world's seventh-biggest economy, has a dismal safety record that has been grimly underscored by a series of major accidents this year. A coal mine blast in the central province of Henan this month killed 33 miners. That followed an October explosion, also in Henan, that killed 148 miners.