44 killed in China mine blast

At least 44 miners died after a gas blast ripped through a coal mine in northern China, state news media said today.

The official New China News Agency said in early reports that nearly 100 miners were trapped in a pre-dawn blast at a mine owned by the Shanxi Jiaomei Group in the city of Gujiao near Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province.

It said 340 miners were rescued but 11 of those died in a hospital. The news agency reported that rescue workers said the death toll had climbed to 44.

An official with the provincial government duty office confirmed the accident but did not have any details.

The Shanxi Jiaomei Group operates 28 mines and is China’s largest producer of coking coal.

Although China has worked to cut mine accidents and shut down more than a 1,000 small, dangerous operations last year, the country’s mining industry is still the world’s deadliest. About 3,200 miners died in accidents last year.

Many of the smaller mines have lax safety measures and are plagued by fires, explosions, floods and other accidents.