Five people were killed and one missing in a coal mine gas blast
on Thursday evening in northeast China's Liaoning Province, local work safety bureau
confirmed on Friday.
The explosion occurred at 7 p.m. in the Hengchang Coal Mine in
Jianchang County, 400 kilometers from Shenyang, the provincial
capital.
Officials from the provincial work safety bureau said 22 miners
were working underground when the accident happened. Sixteen of
them survived.
The officials gave no details about the blast. They are making
full efforts to rescue the missing miner.
Hengchang, a private coal production venture, has annual
production capacity of 50,000 tons.
(Xinhua News Agency December 23, 2006)