A gas explosion ripped through a coal mine in northern China on Sunday, killing at least 74 miners and trapping dozens, state media said.
Another 114 men were sent to hospital, with six in critical condition, the official Xinhua news agency said. Most of the injured miners were suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, it said.
The pre-dawn blast occurred while 436 workers were in the Tunlan Coal Mine in Gujiao city near Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, Xinhua said.
A hospitalized miner, Xue Huancheng, was quoted as saying that he remembered being ordered to flee because the ventilation system had broken down.
"At that time power supply underground was cut off and we had to walk," he said, adding that he fainted as he was about to reach the exit after walking about 40 minutes.
It was the deadliest Chinese coal mine accident in more than a year. In December 2007, 105 people died in a mine explosion, also in Shanxi province.
Despite repeated assurances of safety improvements, China's coal mining industry remains the most dangerous in the world.
About 3,200 miners died in accidents in 2008, a 15 per cent improvement over the previous year.
Another 114 men were sent to hospital, with six in critical condition, the official Xinhua news agency said. Most of the injured miners were suffering from carbon monoxide poisoning, it said.
The pre-dawn blast occurred while 436 workers were in the Tunlan Coal Mine in Gujiao city near Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, Xinhua said.
A hospitalized miner, Xue Huancheng, was quoted as saying that he remembered being ordered to flee because the ventilation system had broken down.
"At that time power supply underground was cut off and we had to walk," he said, adding that he fainted as he was about to reach the exit after walking about 40 minutes.
It was the deadliest Chinese coal mine accident in more than a year. In December 2007, 105 people died in a mine explosion, also in Shanxi province.
Despite repeated assurances of safety improvements, China's coal mining industry remains the most dangerous in the world.
About 3,200 miners died in accidents in 2008, a 15 per cent improvement over the previous year.
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