18 people die in Chinese coal mine
A gas leak in a coal mine in northern China has killed at least 18 miners.
The disaster at the Dahuiyao Coal Mine in Shanxi Province began Friday with a collapse, Xinhua, the official government news agency, reported. That left a closed part of the mine open and set off a fire that released lethal gases.
There were 34 miners working in the area at the time. Three escaped and 14 more were rescued, including one who died at a hospital. Seventeen miners were trapped.
Shanxi Province is one of China’s major coal-mining areas and the site of many mine disasters. In July, a blast caused by illegally stored explosives killed 47 people in one village.
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