China says coal mine blast kills 35 in Henan
The Associated Press, Beijing | Tue, 09/08/2009 2:10 PM
A coal mine blast killed 35 miners in central Henan province Tuesday and left an additional 44 trapped, the government said Tuesday.
The pre-dawn explosion happened at Xinhua No. 4 pit in Pingdingshan city in Henan province, the State Administration of Work Safety said.
A staffer surnamed Yue from the Pingdingshan work safety bureau said that officials from the government's work safety office and the provincial government had arrived on the scene.
A statement on the administration's Web site did not give a reason for the blast. It said 14 miners managed to flee to safety. There were 93 men working underground at the time of the blast, it said.
Calls to the local government and mine operators rang unanswered .
China's mines are the world's deadliest. An average of 13 workers are killed every day in China, and most accidents are blamed on failures to follow safety rules, including a lack of required ventilation or fire control equipment.
