34 confirmed dead in Chinese coal-mine fire
All 34 miners trapped when a fire broke out in a northern Chinese coal mine were confirmed dead after rescuers found the remaining eight bodies today, state media reported.
The fire, which broke out on Sunday at the Nanshan mine in Shanxi province's Lingshi county, was caused by explosives stored in a shaft, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
Sixty-six miners were working in the shaft at the time. Thirty escaped while two were rescued, the agency said.
Xinhua said most of the miners were migrant workers from the eastern province of Shandong and the south-western Sichuan province.
Casualties have been mounting in the latest string of accidents to hit China's already dangerous coal-mining industry.
According to Xinhua, the number of coal-mine accidents in October was 26.1% higher than the previous month, while the number of deaths rose by 44.4%.
Also today, the death toll in a coal-mine explosion in the same province rose to 41 with the recovery of one more body, Xinhua said.
Six miners were still missing in the pit of the Jiaojiazhai mine in Xinzhou city after the November 5 gas blast, the agency said.
