Gas leak at Chinese coal mine kills 12 workers

By Mahmut Atanur

BEIJING

Rescuers confirmed Monday that 12 miners were killed and one injured following a gas leak at a coal mine in China's northeast Jilin Province.

State news agency Xinhua reported that the sole survivor of Sunday’s accident in Baishan city was transported to a nearby hospital Monday.

Local authorities said that more than 310 rescuers and 45 medical personnel were involved in efforts at the Songshu Mine, owned by Tonghua Mining Industry Co. Ltd, while an investigation into the incident remained ongoing.

Chinese mines are among some of the deadliest in the world due to lax regulations and poor operating procedures.

The country produces more than one-third of the world's annual coal output, but accounts for more than two-thirds of global mining deaths annually, according to Mining Technology.

In January, 11 workers were killed after a coal mine collapsed in northwest Shaanxi province.

In August last year, 13 people died after a gas explosion at a coal mine in southwest Guizhou province, while in Dec. 2014 a similar explosion in northeastern Heilongjiang left 10 miners dead.