Underground Blast Kills 91 in Chinese Coal Mine

A huge gas explosion at a coal mine in northern China has killed 91 people, and the death toll could climb, an official said today.

The blast created a shock wave that injured one person above ground, an official at the rescue center for the Dongcun mine at Guojiayao in Shanxi province said by telephone.

Government spokesman Ni Yuan said rescue workers had recovered 91 bodies from the ruins of the coal mine since the explosion at midday Wednesday. News of the blast was delayed by the remoteness of the site and difficulties in communications.

A search was underway for those still missing, but it was not known how many miners had been underground at the time of the blast.

The cause of the explosion was under investigation.

Coal mine accidents kill about 10,000 people in China each year, many of them in smaller, poorly organized mines run by local governments or townships.

China has passed regulations in recent years to try to reassert control over the growing number of small, unregulated mines, and to reduce deadly accidents.

Officials said the mine where the blast occurred did not belong to the system of large state-owned coal mines. Annual production in 1995 at the mine, situated in China’s largest coal-producing province, was 500,000 tons.