China mine blast death toll reaches 70

A gas blast at a coalmine in northern China killed at least 70 people today, with at 26 or more still trapped inside, state media said.

Another 15 miners were rescued or managed to escape after the early morning explosion in the Rui Zhiyuan mine near the city of Linfen in Shanxi province.

The state administration for work safety said the mine, which was owned by the local government, was properly licensed and had an annual output capacity of 210,000 tonnes of coal.

It said the mine's managers were being questioned by police and that the mine's bank account had been frozen.

China's coalmining industry is the most dangerous in the world, averaging 13 deaths a day from fires, explosions and floods. In August, 181 workers died when heavy rains flooded two mines in eastern Shandong province.

Many of the accidents are blamed on mine owners who disregard safety rules and fail to invest in required ventilation, fire control and safety equipment.

Meanwhile, the official Xinhua news agency said 11 people were trapped after a roof collapsed in a private iron and gold ore mine in Chengde in Hebei province, also in northern China.

It said the accident in the private mine happened on Monday but was not reported to officials until today. The agency did not have details of the fate of the miners.

Xinhua also reported that 12 people died of gas poisoning in the Xinjiang region in north-western China.

It said the poisoning happened in an outdoor tent that was being used by workers digging for licorice root, a medicinal herb used in traditional Chinese medicine.