16 bodies recovered from China coal mine
The Associated Press, Beijing | Fri, 08/06/2010 9:45 AM
Deadly mine: In this photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, a rescuer exits the pit at the Sanyuandong Coal Mine in Baiping Township, Dengfeng City, central China's Henan Province, on Aug. 3. Sixteen bodies were recovered Thursday after lethal gas leaked into the coal mine in central China. – AP/Xinhua, Zhu Xiang
A Chinese state news agency is reporting that no survivors have been found among the 16 miners trapped by a lethal gas leak in a coal mine in central China four days ago.
The official Xinhua News Agency said Friday that workers had retrieved 16 bodies from the Sanyuandong Coal Mine in Dengfeng in central China's Henan province.
It said that when the leak happened, 111 other miners scrambled to safety, but that the 16 were trapped.
Calls to the Dengfeng government office ran unanswered early Monday.
In recent years, China has been trying to improve the safety of its mining industry, the world's deadliest, but an unknown number of illegal mines still exist to profit from the country's huge appetite for power.
