BEIJING
A gas explosion at a coal mine in China’s northeastern Heilongjiang province left 10 miners dead Sunday.
Rescuers recovered the bodies of the workers who had been trapped underground following a blast at around 10.10 a.m. (GMT) in Jixi city, the China Daily reported, citing the provincial safety supervision bureau.
Investigations into the cause of the accident are ongoing.
Lax regulation and poor operating procedures make China’s mines the deadliest in the world.
According to government statistics, 589 mining-related accidents last year left 1,049 people dead or missing.
Labor rights groups say accidents are under-reported as managers seek to limit losses and avoid punishment, meaning the death toll is likely to be much higher.
China is the world’s biggest consumer of coal, using it to supply two-thirds of its energy needs last year. The country produces more than one-third of annual global coal output but accounts for more than two-thirds of mining deaths around the world annually, Mining Technology reported earlier this year.
On Nov. 27, at least 11 workers lost their lives in a coal mine explosion in southwestern Guizhou Province, just one day after 26 workers were killed when a fire broke out at a mine in northeastern Liaoning province.
The world’s worst coal mine disaster occured at Benxihu in Liaoning in 1942 when 1,549 miners working under the control of Japanese occupation forces died.
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