Fifteen miners were yesterday confirmed to have died in a
colliery gas explosion in
Henan Province after the body of the last victim was recovered
yesterday.
The blast occurred at 6:30 PM Friday. 56 miners were working
underground at the time at Malingshan Coal Mine in Dengfeng. 41
managed to escape, a spokesman for the provincial coal industry
bureau said.
The explosion was caused by an excessive concentration of
poisonous gas in the mine, which belongs to Zhengzhou Coal Industry
(Group), he added.
The group, which has an annual production capacity of 10 million
tons, also exports to Japan and other Asian countries, according to
its website.
Investigations into the cause of the explosion are under
way.
(China.org.cn, China Daily February 13, 2006)
